MANILA, Philippines — The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has allowed more companies to do crowdfunding.
The move is part of the SEC’s efforts to promote crowdfunding as a safe and sustainable investment option for Filipino investors and to provide more fundraising options for the country’s small and medium enterprises (SMEs), which comprise 99 percent of businesses in the country.
In its meeting on Feb. 23, the SEC en banc approved the respective applications of SeedIn Technology and Eastern Securities for registration as crowdfunding intermediaries.
SeedIn Technology, a debt-based crowdfunding platform, received a permanent license in lieu of a one-year provisional license. It is majority-owned by Singapore-based SeedIn Technology Holding Pte. Ltd., which primarily offers management consultancy services.
Through its platform, SeedIn matches debt issuers with its registered investors, who must have a registered bank account with a licensed Philippine financial institution.
On the other hand, investors may also lend money through SeedIn’s platform using funds from an overseas bank account.
Meanwhile, Eastern Securities is a duly registered stock brokerage, which will be operating Round One Platform, the first equity-based crowdfunding platform licensed in the Philippines.
Through Eastern Securities’ platform, users can initiate and conduct fundraising campaign activities.
On the other, investors can commit investible funds to those campaigns.
Potential issuers through Round One must provide Eastern Securities with the details of the offering, including share price, total fundraising target, and total equity offered, among others. Prospective investors may browse the list of active campaigns available on the site, according to its application submitted to the SEC.
Securities can only be sold or offered for sale or distribution with a registration statement duly filed and approved by the SEC.