The Philippine Securities and Exchange Commission, as chair of the ASEAN Capital Markets Forum, is exploring closer cooperation with Central Asian regulators through the CAREC Capital Markets Development Forum. The Asian Development Bank-supported initiative would promote regulatory coordination, sustainable finance, capacity building and cross-border investment, while allowing the Central Asian forum to draw on ASEAN’s regional cooperation model. During a panel at the Asian Development Bank’s annual meeting in May 2026, the commission highlighted the ASEAN Capital Markets Forum’s development of interoperable frameworks, including ASEAN thematic bond standards. It noted that adoption of these standards broadened the investor base for Philippine issuers and helped make the Philippines the region’s second-largest issuer of ASEAN-labelled thematic bonds to date. The commission will continue supporting closer cooperation between the two forums under the Philippines’ 2026 ASEAN chairship.