More firms using cashless system for SEC payments

Its new online, cashless payment system has allowed the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to collect from businesses millions in mandatory fees per month since it launched in March of last year.

SEC Chair Emilio Aquino recently reported to Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III that the electronic system for payments to the SEC (eSPAYSEC) collected a total of P119.1 million in fees and penalties up to January of this year.

To date, 16,898 transactions involving business registrations, fees and other charges were made through eSPAYSEC, Aquino said.

The SEC chief said businesses can settle their dues via eSPAYSEC using their credit and debit cards, digital wallets and other means of cashless payments.

On top of e-payments, the SEC under Aquino’s watch also introduced in March 2021 the electronic filing and submission tool (eFAST) so firms can submit their audited financial statements, general information sheets and other reportorial requirements online.

As of January 2022, 169,323 enrollments were already processed by eFAST. In all, 185,127 reports required by the SEC were submitted by businesses via eFAST to date.

Another online tool, the electronic system for processing and registration of companies (eSPARC) which speeds up registration among corporations, processed 48,266 applications between April of last year and January this year.

‘Significant progress’

In a statement on Tuesday, the Department of Finance (DOF) said Dominguez was “impressed” with the SEC’s digital transformation, hence congratulated Aquino and the DOF-attached agency for their “significant progress” in improving the ease of doing business while deepening the capital market.

“I don’t know in the past, but I don’t think this has ever happened in the SEC’s history that you have achieved so much in the ease of doing business, so, congratulations. The SEC has also contributed in a big way to improving the capital markets, and of course in catching fraudulent transactions,” the DOF quoted Dominguez telling Aquino.

On top of other digital tools like OneSEC (an eSPARC subsystem) and its official SEC Check mobile app, Aquino said the agency “will strive to achieve its goal of zero face-to-face transactions by fully shifting to online services as outlined in its digital transformation and technology modernization roadmap” before the Duterte administration draws to a close in mid-2022.