SEC expands one-day registration to 81 industries

THE SECURITIES and Exchange Commission (SEC) recently increased the number of industries that can avail of the one-day company registration process.

- By Revin Mikhael D. Ochave Reporter

In a statement, the corporate regulator said it expanded the list of industries eligible for one-day company registration to 81 from 33 previously.

Companies can apply through the One-Day Submission and Electronic Registration of Companies (OneSEC) Zuper Easy Registration online facility.

The wider coverage resulted in a 190% increase in company registrations through OneSEC to 2,938 in July from 1,014 in May.

Some of the new industries allowed to avail the one-day company registration process include computer programming, customs brokerage, deep sea commercial fishing, drugstore, laundry services, property management, radio broadcasting, and veterinary activities.

"Company registration marks the first step in legitimizing a business, which is why we want to make the process as easy and accessible as possible to our stakeholders," SEC Chairperson Francisco Ed.

Lim said in the statement.

"As we move to streamline the registration process, we hope to encourage more entrepreneurs to use the corporate vehicle in facilitating their business and eventually, raise funds for expansion by tapping the capital market," he added.

Introduced in 2021, OneSEC offers pre-filled application forms that lets companies finish the registration process in as fast as one minute and 14 seconds - from the start of the application to the receipt of a digital certificate of incorporation.