THE Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is further accelerating the processing time for transactions after it shortened the validity of payment assessment forms.
In a notice on its website, the corporate regulator said payment assessment forms will now be valid for ten calendar days instead of the previous 45, effective Monday.
According to the SEC, the ten-day validity is applicable to payment assessment forms for all SEC transactions except those issued for the payment of fines and penalties.
Payment assessment forms issued before July 28 are still valid for a 45-day period after being issued.
“(This is) in line with the efforts of the SEC to expedite the processing of transactions with the commission,” the notice said.
“The public is advised to settle their payment assessment forms within the ten-day period to ensure the speedy processing of their applications,” it added.
The shortened validity of payment assessment forms came after President Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr. told the SEC earlier this month to streamline its procedures, remove bureaucratic bottlenecks, and reduce transaction costs.
Last week, the corporate regulator issued Memorandum Circular (MC) No. 9 that provided a 30% discount on the registration fees of companies looking to do initial public offerings or follow-on offerings, as well as those issuing investment contracts, certificates of participation, profit-sharing agreements, bonds, and debt securities.
The discount also covers other forms of securities being registered by power generation companies, distribution utility companies, real estate developers, and managers in relation to rental pool arrangements.
MC No. 9 also integrated the clearance processes across the SEC’s departments into the 45-day processing timeline under the Securities Regulation Code.
On July 16, the SEC released MC No. 8 that issued a 20% to 50% discount on certain filing fees for transactions involving micro, small, and medium enterprises.
The commission also implemented a 50% reduction in the fees and charges for corporate data requests since July 1 to increase investor protection and data access. — Revin Mikhael D. Ochave
