THE Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) wants more micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) to incorporate as formalizing their businesses could open access to the capital market and provide additional financing options for expansion.
The regulator has stepped up efforts to make incorporation and regulatory compliance less costly for smaller businesses — MSMEs account for some 99 percent of enterprises in the country — through fee discounts and digital services.
Aside from accounting for most of the businesses in the country, MSMEs also employ over 60 percent of the country’s workforce.
Speaking during the SEC’s three-day “Juan with SEC Caravan” event in line with this year’s MSME Development Week, SEC Chairman Francis Lim noted that many of the country’s largest corporations had started as small enterprises.
He urged entrepreneurs to view incorporation as a step toward long-term growth.
“Every large corporation was once a small business,” Lim said, adding that today’s home-based businesses, online shops and family-run enterprises could become the country’s next major companies.
The SEC said that reducing the cost of doing business remained one of its priorities to encourage more enterprises to formalize their operations.
Last year, it cut the fees for corporate document requests by half before increasing the discount to 75 percent this year. The agency said businesses had saved nearly P211 million in corporate data fees as of end-June 2026.
The SEC has likewise maintained a 20-percent discount on registration fees for MSMEs and a 25-percent discount on amendments to articles of incorporation involving increases in capital stock.
These incentives were said to have translated to about P149 million in registration fee savings.
Lim said the reduced fees would allow entrepreneurs to channel more resources toward expanding operations instead of regulatory expenses.
“Instead of paying higher regulatory fees, that money can now be used as additional capital — to buy equipment, expand inventory, improve technology, or hire more employees,” he said.
The commission has been promoting broader participation in the capital market as part of its efforts to help smaller businesses diversify their funding sources beyond traditional bank lending and support their long-term growth.
