A mandate for efficiency (Part 1)

Fairness through access, cost reduction and digital trans- formation

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As we approach the end of 2025, we look back at the pivotal policy directions outlined by the SEC earlier this year that will define the market's trajectory in 2026.

The Philippine capital market has long faced a dual challenge: the need to attract new investors while battling the perception of being difficult and costly to navigate. As we close the year, it is worth revisiting the strategic roadmap laid out by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) during the Shareholders’ Association of the Philippines (SharePHIL) forum.

While the event took place in August, the mandate remains urgent. SEC Chairperson Francis Lim’s vision of a “firm, fair and future-focused” market is not just a slogan — it is the blueprint for the reforms we can expect to accelerate in 2026.

Despite the Philippines’ steady economic growth, its capital market continues to lag behind regional peers, constrained by low investor participation, governance concerns and limited product diversity. These longstanding issues raise the cost of doing business and discourage participation, limiting the market's ability to support entrepreneurship and long-term capital formation.

At the SharePHIL forum held on Aug. 8, 2025 and moderated by seasoned financial journalist Cathy Yap-Yang, Lim framed fairness not merely as equal treatment under the law, but as an investor's lived experience within the system.

“From the vantage point of someone who has long worked at the intersection of law, policy and capital markets, one lesson stands out: Confidence in our markets depends not only on the quality of our legal framework, but on the actual experience of those who navigate it,” Lim said at the forum held at Dusit Thani, Makati.