May His Kind Flourish

Francis Lim’s reform agenda offers the Philippine capital market something it urgently needs: a regulator willing to simplify rules, challenge entrenched interests, and enforce the law without fear or favor.

SEC Chairperson Francis Lim is bringing courage, clarity, and integrity to the task of rebuilding trust in Philippine capital markets. In a government hungry for principled leadership, may his kind flourish. [Illustrator: ASK]

In a government frequently tested by questions of credibility, competence, and integrity, Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Chairperson Francis Lim presents a compelling exception.

During his recent appearance before the Monday Circle, Lim did not speak like a bureaucrat trying to preserve the status quo.

Nor did he offer sweeping promises detached from the realities of the Philippine capital market.

Instead, he laid out a reform agenda grounded in practical experience, institutional discipline, and an insistence that regulation must serve a legitimate purpose.

“Every regulatory requirement must be justified,” Lim told the gathering. “If you cannot justify it, then it is not important. Remove it. It is as simple as that.”

It was a characteristically direct declaration from a regulator who appears determined to make the SEC more responsive to business without weakening its obligation to protect investors.

In a country where complicated rules can become breeding grounds for delay, discretion, and abuse, simplicity is not merely an administrative convenience. It is an integrity mechanism.

That may prove to be Lim’s most important contribution.

A regulator who understands the market

Lim assumed office in June 2025 after decades spent at the intersection of law, business, and financial regulation.

A former president and chief executive officer of the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE), he also served as senior partner and senior legal counsel at ACCRALAW and held leadership roles in organizations promoting minority shareholder rights and financial literacy.

That background has given him an unusually complete view of the market. He understands the frustrations of issuers and brokers because he has worked with them.

He recognizes institutional shortcomings because he once led the exchange now under his regulatory supervision. He also knows that market development cannot come at the expense of accountability.

His message to the Monday Circle reflected this balance.

Lim argued that the Philippines cannot deepen its capital market simply by ordering more companies to list. The country must first build a market in which going public makes commercial sense.

With only around 280 listed companies, compared with roughly 800 in Vietnam based on figures cited during the discussion, the Philippine market remains constrained by a limited investible universe and persistently weak liquidity.

“If we make the market attractive enough, the natural consequence is that companies will go public,” he said.

“If the market does not give a company the valuation it deserves, why should it list?”

The answer, in Lim’s telling, lies in creating an enabling environment.

This includes faster approvals, lower compliance costs, more proportionate public-ownership requirements, stronger market-making mechanisms, revised margin-trading rules, and access to new products and technologies.

Lim rejects one-size-fits-all regulation, recognizing that exceptionally large IPOs such as Mynt, Inc.’s (GCash) require proportionate rules. His approach allows major issuers to enter at a manageable public float, then widen ownership as market demand grows. [Illustrator: ASK]

It also means rejecting one-size-fits-all regulation.

For exceptionally large initial public offerings, Lim believes a lower initial public float may be justified when the market cannot immediately absorb a larger offering. Successful issuers can subsequently expand public ownership as demand grows.

“Let them work their way into the market. Let them prove themselves first,” he said. “If they prove themselves, the market will reward them with a higher level of public ownership.”

Reform with measurable results

Lim’s agenda is already taking institutional form.

Under his leadership, the SEC has expanded digital registration and amendment services, imposed firmer processing deadlines, reduced selected technology-related fees, widened incentives for micro, small, and medium enterprises, and removed requirements that impose costs without corresponding public benefit.

The Commission observes a 45-day review period for securities-registration statements, with completed IPO applications reportedly processed in fewer than 40 days once the required submissions are complete.

For Lim, regulatory deadlines should bind the government as firmly as they bind applicants.

The SEC’s Strategic Sandbox is testing innovations spanning tokenized assets, foreign equities, crypto intermediaries, derivatives, and alternative fundraising platforms. For Lim, modernization must advance with proper safeguards for investors and the financial system.

The SEC has also broadened the range of assets eligible for Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs), developed a framework for Shari’ah-compliant sukuk, introduced the Philippine Green Equity Guidelines, and opened its Strategic Sandbox to innovations involving tokenized assets, foreign equities, crypto intermediaries, derivatives, and alternative fundraising platforms.

Yet modernization is only half the equation. Lim is equally focused on the governance of the institutions that oversee and participate in the market.

“Reform starts from the board,” he said.

“If the same people continue doing things the way they have always done them, and the stock market remains where it is, there must be something wrong.”

His push for term limits among independent directors and broker-directors reflects a desire to prevent institutional entrenchment and bring new perspectives into market leadership.

He has also raised the possibility of wider international representation, recognizing that the Philippine market competes for capital far beyond its borders.

“Our clients are not only local investors,” Lim said. “Our clients include the world.”

Lim’s push for director term limits seeks to prevent institutional entrenchment and bring fresh perspectives into market leadership. He is also advocating wider international representation; he is positioning the Philippine market to compete more effectively for global capital. [Photo: SEC]

Trust begins with enforcement

A more accessible market will mean little if investors doubt the fairness of its regulator. Lim therefore returned repeatedly to enforcement, transparency, and the equal application of the law.

“If the facts warrant the filing of cases, we will file them, regardless of how politically or economically powerful the parties may be,” he said. “If you deserve to be sued, we will sue you. That is the message the market needs.”

It was perhaps the clearest expression of the values underpinning his chairmanship.

The SEC has pursued complaints involving alleged insider trading and market manipulation, while Lim has carefully emphasized due process and the independent roles of the Department of Justice (DOJ) and the courts.

His position is neither reckless prosecution nor selective restraint. It is fair play.

“Transparency is very important because you cannot trust a market that is not transparent,” he said.

That principle also guides his call for timely disclosures, affordable access to corporate records, accurate beneficial-ownership reporting, and clearer rules governing material nonpublic information.

May his kind flourish

Kenneth Lao, president of Golden Tower Securities & Holdings, Inc. and a first-time Monday Circle attendee, described Lim’s agenda as a drive toward the “global modernization” of requirements and compliance for listed companies and brokerages.

Lao welcomed Lim’s effort to build a more collaborative SEC-PSE relationship modeled on the interaction between the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) and the banking sector.

Such a relationship, he said, should be “sympathetic and practical,” particularly as brokers continue to face overlapping reports, redundant requirements, and audits from different regulatory bodies.

The SEC’s pursuit of complaints involving alleged insider trading and market manipulation linked to members of the politically influential Villar-family reflects Lim’s commitment to impartial enforcement. [Photo: SEC]

More importantly, Lao came away reassured that Lim was prepared to confront resistance and accept the consequences of reform.

That resolve deserves recognition. The Philippines does not lack intelligent public officials, detailed development plans, or ambitious regulatory frameworks.

What it too often lacks are leaders prepared to apply the rules consistently, remove those that no longer make sense, and challenge institutions that have grown comfortable with stagnation.

Lim readily acknowledged that the transformation of the SEC and the Philippine capital market will take time. “It will not happen overnight,” he said.

“We have to put the enabling environment in place.”

But confidence is rebuilt precisely this way. One credible decision at a time. One unnecessary barrier removed. One powerful interest held to the same standard as everyone else.

If Francis Lim succeeds, his legacy will be measured not only by the number of IPOs, new products, or digital systems introduced under his watch. It will be measured by whether investors once again see the Philippine capital market as a fair, transparent, and trustworthy place to commit their money.

In public service, competence is valuable. Competence joined with courage and integrity is rarer still.

May his kind flourish.

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