S.E.C. opens third satellite office in Ortigas Center

THE Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on Tuesday has opened its third satellite office in a shopping mall in Ortigas Center as the agency gears for the eventual transfer of its main office.

SEC Chairman Teresita Herbosa said that the said satellite office, measuring about 40 square meters, will serve the public coming from the eastern side of Metro Manila such as those coming from Rizal province.

“We may end the year with five satellite offices by the end of the year,” Herbosa said.

The other two will be in Alabang in Muntinlupa and another in Cebu.

“We are thinking of adding a new office in Davao where we also have a lot of transactions,” she said.  The first two offices are in Ali Mall in Cubao, Quezon City, and another one in Manila, also inside a shopping mall.

SEC said that barely three months after the launch of its Ali Mall office branch in Cubao, Quezon City, with only four staff members, it already had an average of monthly income of P2.2 million in filing fees.

SEC said it already released certificates of registration and amendment certificates.

“Projecting an average annual gross income of P26.5 million, the SEC Ali Mall Satellite Office earns as much as a small town,” the SEC said, citing a portion of the Local Government Code which states that a fourth-class municipality earns an average annual income of P25 million to P35 million.

From 129 walk-in clients in November and 226 in December of 2014, it has grown toACCOMMODATE 393 clients in January 2015, a significant 57.5-percent increase since the previous month, the SEC said.

Such high foot traffic clearly shows that the public appreciates the government’s efforts to bring government services closer to them, it said.  The agency is putting up a lot of satellite offices, which can receive document submission and apply for a new corporate entity, as headquarters will be transferred to the offices at Philippine International Convention Center in Pasay, occupying the offices that were formerly used by the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office. “That will just be temporary,” Herbosa said, adding that the plan to transfer in Bonifacio Global City along with the government financial cluster will still push through.

The SEC processed about 24,000 new corporations last year and regulates about 870,000 corporations, among others. Although the SEC’s earned collections averaged to about P3 billion per year for the past three years, it only runs at an average budget of P400 million per year with about 385 employees.

The remaining balance of the SEC’s collections is remitted to the National Treasury.

“It is worth noting that the SEC was also ranked as the fifth best performing national agency by the Makati Business Club survey last 2014. The Philippine economy’s strong performance in 2014 shows how our country remains as one of the top investment destinations in Southeast Asia. Our financial markets remain bullish under the Aquino administration, with its culture of integrity, transparency and accountability, and its focus on good governance reforms,” Herbosa said.

source:  Business Mirror