The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has recently launched a system that make starting a business venture easier, faster and more convenient. The system features an online company registration process that will allow applicants to complete in just one day.
Domestic corporations may register with the SEC through the One-Day Submission and Express Registration of Companies (OneSEC) feature of the Electronic Simplified Processing of Application for Registration of Company (eSPARC).
SEC chairman Emilio Aquino said OneSEC provides new businesses the means to easily comply with the Commission’s registration requirements, ensuring the continuity of the business sector amid the Covid-19 pandemic.
“The single-day processing of applications for company registration will help us further push our goal of improving the ease of doing business in the country, complementing our other recent digital initiatives that allows seamless transactions with the public,” Aquino said.
OneSEC, which can easily and conveniently be accessed at https://secwebapps.sec.gov.ph/application, accepts applications for registration of domestic stock corporations, which are 100 percent owned by Filipinos, and whose common shares have a par value of not less than P1 and in non-decimal currency, and subscribed for through cash payment.
The corporation must have incorporators, directors, and subscribers who are natural persons and residents of the Philippines. It must also have a perpetual corporate term of existence and be located outside an economic zone.
The proposed corporate name must include a descriptor according to the corporation’s industry classification, must not contain any trade name, and must not be subject to any appeal for reconsideration.
OneSEC will prefill the corporation’s primary purpose or main business activity based on the chosen industry classification, which may not be subject to any modification by the applicant.
To make the end-to-end registration process seamless, OneSEC is integrated with the SEC online payment portal called Electronic System for Payments to the SEC (eSPAYSEC).
Upon completing the online registration process, applicants may download the digital copy of their interim certificates of incorporation (COI).
Applicants may secure the original copy of their COI upon presentation of the digital interim COIs and proof of payment of the assessed registration fees, together with the originally signed and authenticated or notarized hard copies of their registration documents to the SEC.
Applicants may submit the said hard copies of the registration documents within one year from the issuance of their interim COI.
Migration from CRS to eSPARC
In addition, eSPARC now accepts applications for registration of partnerships and foreign corporations, which were previously accepted through the SEC company registration system (CRS).
All pending applications starting with the company name reservation and those applications in the preform and in-form status in the CRS, including those filed but not yet approved for payment and in compliance status must re-apply in eSPARC.
On the other hand, those whose applications have been approved for payment in the CRS and have been provided with a payment assessment form, should proceed to paying the registration fees.
Meanwhile, applicants that have already paid their registration fees but could not upload the proof of payment in the CRS should submit the proof of payment, together with the signed and authenticated/notarized copies of the registration documents, to the selected processing office for the issuance of their COI.
Those who have not yet been issued their COI despite having uploaded the proof of payment in the CRS should submit the proof of payment, together with the signed and authenticated or notarized copies of the registration documents, to the selected processing office for the issuance of the COI.
OneSEC is the latest initiative in the digital transformation program of the SEC. The eSPARC was launched on April 19 to facilitate faster and easier registration of corporations.
The Commission on March 15 also launched the online submission tool, which allows for the online submission of annual financial statements, general information sheet, and other covered reports.
Earlier on March 1, the eSPAYSEC went live, giving clients the option to settle their registration and other transaction fees through online banking or their digital wallets.