SEC expands industries eligible for one-day company registration

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) continues its drive to make company registration faster and easier by enabling more businesses to complete the company registration process within a day.

The Commission has recently expanded the list of industries allowed to avail of the one-day registration process through the One Day Submission and Electronic Registration of Companies (OneSEC) Zuper Easy Registration Online facility to 81 from 33.

The expanded coverage has allowed the SEC to post an increase of nearly 300% in the number of companies registered through OneSEC in July at 2,938, compared to only 1,014 registrations in May.

“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 Francis Lim said.

“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.

Launched in 2021, OneSEC is a subsystem of the Electronic Simplified Processing of Application for Registration of Company (eSPARC) that makes use of pre-filled application forms to streamline the registration process.

The system has allowed companies to complete 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.

Corporations that are eligible to register via the “pass through” system include one-person corporations and regular corporations with two to 15 incorporators, board of directors and stockholders.

The SEC has been ramping up programs that align with its mandate of improving the ease of doing business in the country.

To encourage more micro, small, and medium enterprises to register as corporations, the SEC has granted them a 20% discount in registration fees, and up to 50% discount in the filing fee for those seeking to tap the capital market, with the issuance of MC No. 8, Series of 2025.

In June, it issued Memorandum Circular (MC) No. 6, Series of 2025, which reduced the rates for corporate data requests by half.

The Commission has also imposed strict timelines in the processing of applications for permits, licenses, registrations, certificates, clearances, and other authorizations, through MC No. 7, Series of 2025. This also included the adoption of a “deemed approved” policy should the Commission fail to meet its own deadline for review.

“This is just the beginning. We will continue to assess our internal policies to identify the bottlenecks that we need to remove to further improve the ease of doing business, thereby reinforcing the trust and confidence of our stakeholders in our systems,” Lim said.

Industry classifications on OneSEC:

1. Activities of a Holding Company
2. Activities of Employment Agency Activities
3. Advertising
4. Agriculture
5. Air Transportation
6. Arrastre and Stevedoring Services
7. Business Process Outsourcing
8. Cargo Consolidator
9. Cargo Sales Agent or Breakbulk Sales Agent
10. Cockpit
11. Combined Facilities Support Activities (Cleaning Activities)
12. Computer Programming
13. Construction
14. Creative Arts and Entertainment of Activities
15. Customs Brokerage
16. Deep Sea Commercial Fishing
17. Domestic Agricultural Aerial Spraying Services
18. Domestic Agricultural Aerial Spraying Services using Remotely Piloted Aircraft (RPA)
19. Domestic Airfreight Forwarder
20. Domestic Non-Scheduled Air Transportation Services
21. Domestic Scheduled Air Transportation Services
22. Drugstore
23. Electric generation
24. Film Production and Post-Production Services
25. Fishery
26. Funeral and Related Services
27. Gambling and Betting Activities
28. Gas Station
29. General Sales Agent for Cargo
30. General Sales Agent for Passenger
31. Hospital
32. Hospital – COVID Facility
33. Hotel
34. International Airfreight Forwarder
35. International Non-Scheduled Air Transportation Services
36. International Non-Scheduled All-Cargo Air Transportation Services
37. International Scheduled Air Transportation Services
38. IT – TNVs
39. IT/Software Applications
40. Landscape Care and Maintenance Service Activities
41. Land Transportation
42. Laundry Services
43. Logistic/Courier Services
44. Management Consultancy
45. Mining
46. Non-Vessel Operating Common Carrier
47. Organization of Convention and Trade Shows
48. Other Residential Care Activities
49. Personal Services for Wellness except Sports Activities
50. Photographic Activities
51. Printing and Publishing
52. Property Management
53. Radio Broadcasting
54. Real Estate
55. Recruitment
56. Repair of Household Appliances and Home and Garden
57. Renting and Leasing Machinery
58. Renting and Leasing Motor Vehicles
59. Renting and Leasing of Personal and Household Goods
60. Repairs of Computers and Communications Equipment
61. Residential Nursing Care Facilities
62. Residential Care Activities for Mental Retardation, Mental Health and Substance Abuse
63. Residential Care Activities for the Elderly and Disabled
64. Restaurant
65. Retail Trading of Goods
66. Retail via Mail/Telephone Order Houses via the Internet
67. Schools
68. Sea Transportation
69. Security Agency
70. Security Facility Sales and Installation Activities
71. Shipping Agency
72. Sound Recording
73. Sports Activities
74. Technical Testing/Analysis
75. Telecommunications
76. Television Programming and Broadcasting Activities
77. Travel Agency
78. Veterinary Activities
79. Waste Collection/Disposal/Management
80. Wholesale and Retail Trading of Goods
81. Wholesale Trading of Goods