Philippine Capital Market Reforms Aim to Boost Liquidity and Investor Appeal

The Philippine Securities and Exchange Commission is accelerating capital market reforms to ease long-standing liquidity constraints and close gaps with ASEAN peers in market depth and product diversity, SEC chairman Francisco Ed. Lim said at a business forum.

The regulator has tightened service standards, shortened decision timelines and introduced a deemed-approved mechanism for filings that go unanswered beyond prescribed periods, alongside a standard 45-day review window for public offerings.

Additional measures include clarifying exempt transactions, extending shelf-registration validity to five years and proposing updates to real estate investment trust rules to allow broader infrastructure-related assets.

To improve trading depth, the SEC is also reviewing ways to increase securities supply, strengthen market-making, refine pricing mechanisms and revisit securities lending, short-selling and repurchase agreement participation.