SEC orders SCCP to build up guarantee fund

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has directed the Securities Clearing Corp. of the Philippines (SCCP) to come up with a scheme to build up a clearing and trade guarantee fund (CTGF).

In a letter to the SCCP board, the SEC’s markets regulation department (SEC-MRD) instructed the clearing house to submit any planned scheme that would "augment" SCCP’s existing build-up program for the CTGF. The letter, signed by MRD director Jose Aquino, asked SCCP to present the plan’s details, the target date of implementation as well as the mechanics of the program itself.

The CTGF is one of the contentious issues that has been delaying the granting of a permanent license to SCCP because broker-members of the clearing house are reluctant to shell out money for the fund, aside from the seed money that came from the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE).

Although the SCCP has been issued a permanent license which essentially granted it the status of the self-regulating organization (SRO) like the PSE, the commission wants to be sure that all safety nets are in place to ensure that the clearing house will not suddenly fail for lack of guarantee funds.

In the letter, Aquino directed the SCCP to submit a status report on the development of the clearing house’s new system including a brief description and explanation of the delivery-versus-payment (DvP) model that is planning to use.

Aquino said the SEC wants to be informed and convinced that the SCCP will be using a suitable network infrastructure, whether it will be an open or closed system.

Aquino said the SCCP has met most of the requirements imposed by the SEC, but it has to meet a few more "minor requirements" as well as clarify questions raised by the commission.