The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has set up a new office that will focus on regulating financial technology (fintech) companies.
PhilFintech Innovation Office (PIO) will be part of the SEC’s Corporate Governance and Finance Department (CGFD) and will be responsible for promoting financial inclusion through fintech while protecting investors and other financial consumers, according to Emilio Aquino, SEC chairman.
“The PIO is mandated to reduce gaps in consumer and investor protection tempered by financial inclusion, integrity, and stability through a dedicated focus on the regulation and growth of fintech activities; create better-informed policies for new and existing fintech innovators; and capacitate the SEC with expertise to effectively regulate fintech activities and promote an innovative culture in the corporate sector,” Aquino said.
Aquino said the PIO will be “at the forefront of building an enabling regulatory environment for fintech, in particular.”
To better prepare the country for fintech innovation, the SEC created the PIO to give greater regulatory focu`astry, said Aquino.
The PIO will facilitate the processing of the registration of new fintech companies along with the appropriate department of the Commission. It shall likewise serve as the first point of contact for existing fintech companies, which have been operating without proper regulation or authorization, or which will introduce new fintech products.
The PIO shall document, analyze, and understand fintech business models and their possible impacts on the market and its participants, which the SEC will then use to formulate and execute regulatory responses geared toward protecting investors and market participants.
Prior to the creation of the PIO, the SEC has been issuing rules and regulations in response to new technologies emerging in the market.
