Who’s afraid of Francis Lim?

A year into his term, Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Francis Lim has already stirred up the hornet’s nest, drawing the ire of many powerful players in the country’s business environment.

Not surprisingly, not everyone is happy, and we’ve been hearing that some quarters are seriously asking the powers that be for his head. In exchange for what? Your guess is as good as mine.

This is alarming but I am not surprised, because here in our country, some people, especially those who move in the circles of the elite and the powerful, would do anything to “make their problems go away.” They would try to convince the appointing powers to remove that thorn in their side.

It’s the reason why some Cabinet secretaries come and go. Especially vulnerable to the whims of the powerful are heads of the Bureaus of Customs and Internal Revenue. We still remember a BIR commissioner’s sudden departure. Supposedly, somebody asked for his head. Such uncertainty surrounding their positions makes it difficult for them to really act fearlessly in fulfilling their duties. They stay away from “sacred cows” or companies that are powerful enough to escape the rule of law.

This should not be the case. Meaningful reforms can only happen if there is political will – all the way to the top.

Fortunately for Lim, the SEC chairman has a fixed seven-year term, as mandated by Republic Act 8799, the Securities Regulation Code. This is just like the position of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas governor – also a fixed term, but for six years.

As regulators, the SEC and the BSP are protected via fixed terms for their leaders. This is to empower them to fearlessly execute their duties without fear that they could just be removed from office. The fixed terms also protect their respective agencies from being politicized.

Cracking the whip

As SEC chief, Lim has cracked the whip on erring companies, frauds, pyramid scam perpetrators and many others. He has also put an end to the terms of long-serving independent directors, a move that many veteran corporate executives did not like. Some even brought the controversial SEC move to court.

As expected, he has made enemies left and right. Some even alleged that some of his directives were meant to be personal attacks against certain individuals, against whom he had an axe to grind.

But he knew this was going to happen even before he accepted the job. He knew that he was going to make enemies if he did his job well. He may have even lost some friends.

Improving corporate governance

Just a year into his term, Lim, a well-known ACCRA corporate lawyer and the former president of the Philippine Stock Exchange, has rolled out policies aimed at promoting good corporate governance practices among corporations in a bid to strengthen transparency and investor confidence.

As I mentioned earlier, he set term limits for independent directors, supposedly to promote greater board independence and align domestic practices with international standards.

Through Memorandum Circular 7, Series of 2026, the SEC imposed a strict nine-year term limit for independent directors of publicly listed companies.

The SEC also introduced a 10-year cumulative term limit for broker directors of exchanges, under MC 17, Series of 2026, “to encourage greater diversity, independence and professional expertise.”

Another reform that the Lim-led SEC implemented is tighter beneficial ownership disclosure.

As a journalist, I appreciate this move because it makes company ownership more transparent.

Thus, the SEC has launched the Hierarchical and Applicable Relations and Beneficial Ownership Registry, a web-based registry for beneficial ownership disclosures, to streamline compliance, enhance corporate transparency and support the country’s anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing commitments.

Supporting the fight against corruption

In terms of fighting corruption, the SEC is currently reviewing the corporate governance framework. It seeks to designate private corporations that have been awarded government contracts above specified thresholds as corporations vested with public interest.

“This aims to uphold the proper use of public funds and to combat corruption. It is also proposing amendments to accreditation requirements applicable to auditing firms and external auditors, including those with significant government infrastructure contracts, to strengthen audit quality and improve confidence in corporate disclosures,” the SEC said.

Investor protection

In the area of investor protection, the SEC under Lim’s leadership has issued 15 cease-and-desist orders, revoked 25 corporate registrations and filed criminal complaints with the Department of Justice covering three entities and 40 individuals.

These include a criminal complaint against Villar Land filed in January 2026 for alleged “market manipulation, insider trading and misleading disclosures that distorted the company’s share prices and misled the investing public.”

The SEC also went after Maria Francesca Tan by seeking a Red Notice against her. Tan, who has left the country, is at the center of a large-scale fraudulent scheme.

The corporate regulator has also created a dedicated committee to oversee matters involving the Lopez Group of Companies in view of potential systemic market implications.

Lim has put many more reforms in place, and he has vowed to push for more. But with a bunch of enemies he has made, one wonders – who among them wants Francis Lim removed from the SEC?

It could be anyone whose businesses – or misdeeds – he has disrupted or stopped, but especially those who stand to lose the most.

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