PH joins Asean cross-border investment pact

Philippine investment companies and fund managers can now offer eligible funds to retail investors in Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand while their counterparts in these neighboring countries can similarly pitch investment products to the local market, boosting cross-border investment flow in Southeast Asia.

This was as the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) became the newest signatory to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) Collective Investment Schemes (CIS) Framework, an initiative under the regional capital markets integration plan endorsed by the Asean Finance Ministers in 2009 to facilitate cross-border product access and fund distribution for investors and issuers, respectively.

The Securities Commission Malaysia (SC), the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), and the Securities and Exchange Commission of Thailand have signed a supplemental memorandum of understanding to admit the Philippine SEC to the CIS framework, the latest step toward enhancing capital market connectivity in the region.

The framework enables fund managers operating in a member-jurisdiction to offer a CIS constituted and authorized in that country to retail investors in other member jurisdictions under a streamlined authorization process. The supplemental memorandum took effect on Tuesday.

In a joint statement on Tuesday, SC chair Syed Zaid Albar congratulated SEC Philippines on its admission into the framework. “Under the Asean CIS Framework, retail investors are able to tap into a wider choice of funds from beyond their borders, and fund managers can offer their products cross-border under an efficient approval system. The addition of the Philippines to the three existing jurisdictions under the framework broadens the range of regional funds for portfolio diversification, and we hope for more participation from our Asean counterparts in future,” he said.

SEC Philippines chair Emilio Aquino said: “We deeply appreciate the tireless efforts and dedication of SC, MAS and SEC Thailand in facilitating the admission of the Philippines into the Asean CIS Framework, especially the members of Asean CIS Working Group B who played important roles in achieving this significant milestone, thereby allowing us to participate and be able to showcase our collective investment schemes.” INQ