The Philippine Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) announced it has signed a data sharing agreement with the Department of Finance (DOF) to provide the Philippine Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (PH-EITI) with enhanced access to corporate data, including beneficial ownership information. The arrangement is intended to support PH-EITI’s transparency requirements for corporations holding extractive licences or contracts. The agreement was ceremonially signed on 3 September in Manila. PH-EITI, established under Executive Order No. 147 (2013) and operating under the DOF, is the Philippines’ implementing body for the global Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI), whose standards include full beneficial ownership disclosure for relevant extractive companies. The SEC framed the data exchange as supporting Financial Action Task Force (FATF) standards and efforts to combat corruption, illicit financial flows, tax evasion and undue influence in the extractive industry, noting it has entered similar data sharing deals with 23 law enforcement agencies and competent authorities. The release also reiterated that corporations must declare beneficial owners in their general information sheet under SEC Memorandum Circular No. 15 (2019), with penalties for non-disclosure and false disclosure under SEC Memorandum Circular No. 10 (2022).

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