SEC to test system to speed up registrations

An online registration system will be pilot-tested at the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) starting this month which will make it faster and more convenient for those intending to establish their own corporations and partnerships.

SEC chairman Lilia Bautista said the new system will be put in place by Peak, a member of the Diversified Financial Network Inc. (DFNN) group, at no cost to the SEC, by Christmas Day, Dec. 25.

The publicly-listed DFNN is a leading provider of a wide range of financial services through the use of information technology and the Internet.

"This will only be for a trial run but we expect the system to be fully operational by the end of the first quarter next year," Bautista said.

Aside from the ease and convenience of submitting the necessary documents (articles of incorporation, by-laws and general information sheet), Peak will be charging its online clients competitive rates for the downloading costs, at roughly P500 per application.

At present, the SEC forms cost between P300 (for non-stock corporations) to P500 (for stock corporations).

Last June, the SEC decided to put off plans to bid out its computerization program and instead undertook a modular approach or outsourcing scheme in tapping the use of information technology.

The SEC computerization project was put up for a possible build-operate-own (BOO) scheme as early as 1999 but was not considered as feasible by the National Economic Development Authority (NEDA) Investment Coordination Committee and suggested that alternative measures be explored.

Also, the original proponent of the computerization project, Strategic Alliance Development Corp. (Stradec), which is a consortium of various IT firms, has apparently lost interest and backed out from the project. Last year, Stradec signed with the SEC an agreement to undertake a feasibility study for the computerization program although the government has not yet set a bidding schedule.

Stradec earlier successfully obtained contracts to spearhead the computerization projects of the Land Transportation Office ($80 million) and Land Registration Authority ($98 million).