The Philippines Securities and Exchange Commission (Philippines SEC) and the World Bank’s International Finance Corporation have announced a new governance code for publicly listed companies in the country.
The code, which came into force at the start of 2017, aims to improve company competitiveness and attract foreign investment. It also plans to improve the functioning of boards, strengthen shareholder protection and promote full disclosure in financial and non-financial reporting.
The code adopts a ‘comply or explain’ approach that combines voluntary compliance with mandatory disclosure to address ‘perceived overregulation’ of the Philippines SEC.
‘The new code is intended to raise the corporate governance standards of Philippine publicly listed corporations to a level on par with their regional and global counterparts,’ says Philippines SEC chairman Teresita Herbosa.
All publicly listed companies are now required to submit a new manual on corporate governance to the Philippines SEC on or before May 31, 2017.
