The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is pursuing reforms to strengthen the Philippines corporate bond market and broaden access for small and medium enterprises (SMEs), in collaboration with the World Bank and the International Finance Corporation (IFC).

From November 11 to 13, the SEC hosted the Workshop on Corporate Bond Market Development and Capital Market Solutions for SMEs under the World Bank Group’s Joint Capital Markets Programme (J-CAP).

The event provided a platform to present preliminary findings and outline a reform agenda addressing the local debt market and SME financing.

Discussions highlighted the need for new financing mechanisms, stronger market infrastructure, and a long-term strategy to diversify the corporate bond market.

SEC Chairperson Francis Lim emphasised the value of J-CAP as an impartial facilitator.

“The SEC has actively engaged with our partners from the World Bank Group under J-CAP to explore instruments and policy measures that can accelerate capital market development,” Lim said.

He added:

“By testing solutions against real market conditions and gauging participants’ appetite to adopt them, their assessment provides relevant insights as we address market constraints and capitalise on emerging opportunities”.

Following the workshop, the SEC stated it will hold an exploratory meeting with the J-CAP team, the Department of Finance, and the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas.

The group will discuss legislative measures to enhance market efficiency and strengthen regulatory coordination.

Featured image by pressfoto via Freepik.