The Philippine Securities and Exchange Commission has proposed lifting the moratorium on registering new online lending platforms operated by financing and lending companies, which has been in place since November 2021. The draft framework would permit new registrations while imposing enhanced capital, prudential, disclosure and market conduct requirements, including a maximum of 10 platforms per company. Minimum paid-up capital would range from PHP 20 million to PHP 100 million for financing companies and from PHP 10 million to PHP 50 million for lending companies, depending on the number of platforms operated. Existing companies would have three years to comply under a capital compliance plan. The proposal would also introduce a single certificate covering a company’s principal and branch offices and replace branch-level annual fees with an asset-based licensing fee of 0.10% to 0.35% of total assets. Consumer safeguards would prohibit access to borrowers’ contact lists, social media contacts and messaging records, as well as the use of such data for collection, harassment or third-party disclosure. Automated collection messages would be barred except for neutral payment reminders, core lending functions could not be outsourced, and platform operators would have to submit data to the Credit Information Corporation and use available credit reports in loan assessments. Comments are due by March 25.
2026-03-13Philippine Securities and Exchange Commission
Philippine Securities and Exchange Commission consults on lifting online lending platform moratorium under tighter capital and conduct rules
The Philippine Securities and Exchange Commission has proposed lifting its moratorium on new online lending platforms while introducing higher capital, prudential and consumer protection standards. The framework would cap each financing or lending company at 10 platforms and require paid-up capital of up to PHP 100 million or PHP 50 million, respectively. It would also restrict data use and collection practices, prohibit outsourcing of core lending functions and require credit data reporting and checks.