Company registrations hit record high in 2022

MANILA, Philippines — The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) said company registrations reached a record high last year, contributing to the country’s economic growth.

The SEC recorded a total of 42,926 corporate registrations in 2022, up by 13 percent compared to 38,052 in 2021, the most in its 85-year history as the country’s company registrar.

SEC chairperson Emilio Aquino said they expect more company registrations as Filipinos continue to set up businesses through the corporate vehicle.

This, he said, bodes well for the economy, which expanded by 7.6 percent last year from 5.7 percent in 2021. The economy is projected to grow by 5.6 percent this year, according to the World Bank.

In 2021 alone, the total number of company registrations recorded by the SEC jumped by 67 percent as the business sector gradually recovered from the pandemic.

The SEC attributed the double-digit increase in company registrations to the implementation of its digital transformation program which it launched in 2021.

“The SEC will continue to develop its goals toward digitalization to further push the business sector toward its best,” Aquino said.

In 2021, the SEC launched the Electronic Simplified Processing of Application for Registration of Companies (eSPARC), and its subsystem, the One Day Submission and Electronic Registration of Companies (OneSEC).

Through the eSPARC, the SEC was able to reduce the company registration process to three days from 16 steps in 34 days.

The process is even faster with OneSEC, which has a record processing time of one minute and 14 seconds from the start of application to the receipt of a digital Certificate of Incorporation.

Also as part of the digital transformation of the SEC, the agency likewise launched the Electronic Filing and Submission Tool or (eFAST). This was previously called the Online Submission Tool, which allows for the submission of digital copies of reportorial requirements such as Annual Financial Statements (AFS) and General Information Sheets (GIS).

Two years since the launch of eFAST, submission of AFS and GIS have transitioned completely online.

The SEC also made payments easier through the Electronic System for Payments to the SEC (eSPAYSEC), where the transacting public can now choose from over 90,000 online and offline payment options nationwide.