Philippines ready to ink agreement for Asia Region Funds Passport

MANILA, Philippines - The Philippines is set to sign a regional agreement that will pave the way for the easier movement of investment funds in Asia-Pacific countries, a Department of Finance (DOF) official said.

Neil Adrian Cabiles, officer-in-charge at the DOF’s International Finance Group, said the country plans to be a signatory to a statement of understanding for the Asia Region Funds Passport.

The Asia Region Funds Passport eases requirements for cross-border transactions and investments.

This means that a mutual fund based in the Philippines will only need to get the approval of the Securities and Exchange Commission and show this permit to the other country’s SEC counterpart to be able to sell the same product in that country.

“After signing the statement of understanding, they (the member economies) will still have to look at the rules the participating economies will have to follow,” Cabiles explained.

The set of rules for the Asia Region Funds Passport is expected to be finalized by next year.

Cabiles said a memorandum of understanding for the implementation of the regional cooperation would also need to be signed by year-end.

However, the Philippines’ participation in the memorandum of understanding is still dependent on the SEC’s accreditation from an international association.

One of the requirements of this regional cooperation is that the country should be a signatory to the International Organization of Securities Commission’s Appendix A of the multilateral memorandum of understanding.

Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, and South Korea have already indicated their intention to join the Asia Region Funds Passport. Japan and the Philippines, meanwhile, have also expressed interest earlier.