The Philippine Securities and Exchange Commission reported an all-time high of 52,304 new company registrations in 2024, a 6% increase from 49,506 in 2023, bringing the total number of active SEC-registered companies to 527,710 at year-end. The SEC attributed the increase to its digital transformation initiatives aimed at shortening and simplifying registration. Stock corporations accounted for 39,146 (75%) of new registrations, followed by non-stock corporations at 10,782 (21%) and partnerships at 2,376 (5%). One-person corporations increased by 27% to 8,640. Nearly 40% of new registrants were based in Metro Manila (20,231), with Region IV-A (CALABARZON) at 8,226 (16%) and Region III (Central Luzon) at 6,141 (12%); services dominated at 44,872 (86%), including 12,479 in wholesale and retail trade and motor vehicle and motorcycle repair. The SEC highlighted eSPARC, launched in 2021, as reducing registration time from 34 days to three days, and OneSEC as enabling end-to-end registration in one minute and 14 seconds; it also pointed to the July 2024 rollout of SEC ZERO and the Electronic Submission Authentication Portal (eSAP) to remove wet-signature and hard-copy requirements, and the SEC Foreign Investments Registration Station (FIRST) Green Lane Unit to handle registration, licensing and amendments for Foreign Investment Act entities and foreign multinational firms. The SEC indicated it will build on its digital transformation in 2025 and pursue additional measures to bring services closer to the public.

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