Rules on financing, lending eased
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) decided to reduce the number of documentary requirements in allowing financing or lending companies to operate in the country in response to President Rodrigo R. Duterte’s order to cut bureaucratic red tape and make public service efficient.
SEC Chairperson Teresita Herbosa said that soon the public will no longer have to bring voluminous records and documents to the SEC for certain applications, including the establishment of a lending company.
She said this was made possible by SEC's Company Registration and Monitoring Department (CRMD) as it was able to consolidate some documentary requirements and identify those that seem redundant.
The basic documentary requirements for applications for a certificate of authority to operate as a financing company have been reduced to 15 from 23.
The following are also no longer required for registration of financing and lending companies: Local police clearance; certificate of good moral character for Filipino directors and officers; work permit from the Department of Labor and Employment for foreign directors and officers; and location map and copy of the lease contract or title of the building/ unit where the company is located.
"This would speed up the processing for the issuance of the certificates since there would be lesser documents for inspection or evaluation," Herbosa said.
SEC’s Corporate Governance and Finance Department (CGFD), which is in charge of monitoring registered financing and lending companies, also dispensed some requirements to streamline monitoring and make doing business easier.
From now on, SEC will also no longer require the submission of quarterly report; Certification of Corporate Secretary on the Attendance of Directors on Board Meetings, if covered by the Code of Corporate Governance; Corporate Governance Scorecard, if covered by the Code of Corporate Governance.
For financing companies applying to operate a branch office, the existing documentary requirements has been reduced from 13 to 8, while for applications for certificate of authority to operate a lending company head office, the documentary requirements used to be 16 and have been lessened to 12.
Herbosa then assured the public that the SEC will continue to strive in improving further its services by eliminating excessive or inflexible administrative procedures and protracted decisionmaking processes that slow down public service.