The Philippine Securities and Exchange Commission convened agri-business stakeholders at its “SEC FARMS: Sowing the Seeds of Growth through the Capital Market” conference on September 24 and urged firms in the sector to tap capital markets for financing, highlighting its SEC FARMS programme for faster, more streamlined securities registration. SEC FARMS, implemented through SEC Memorandum Circular No. 8, Series of 2023, is designed to ease the registration process for agri-business securities to support investor participation. Under the scheme, the SEC is required to review registration statements within 28 days from filing, subject to SEC guidelines, and participating firms may raise up to PHP 500 million per project. The conference included SEC-led walkthroughs of programme requirements and sessions from the Philippine Stock Exchange on initial public offering listing and from the Investment & Capital Corporation of the Philippines on engaging underwriters.