Securities and Exchange Commission

The Securities and Exchange Commission (, commonly known as SEC) is the agency of the Government of the Philippines charged with the registration and supervision of corporations and securities, as well as capital market institutions and participants, in the Philippines. As such, the Commission champions investor protection in the Philippines, as part of its mandate. An agency under the Department of Finance, the SEC is headquartered at 7907 Makati Avenue, Barangay Bel-Air, Makati City. It has ten extension offices located in Baguio, Tarlac, Legazpi, Iloilo, Bacolod, Cebu, Tacloban, Cagayan de Oro, Davao and Zamboanga. History The SEC was established on October 26, 1936, by virtue of Commonwealth Act No. 83, or the Securities Act, in order to safeguard public interest in view of the local stock market boom at the time. It was created just two years after the United States Congress created the United States Securities and Exchange Commission. The Commission's operations formally began on November 11, 1936, with Ricardo Nepumoceno serving as its first commissioner. Its functions then largely revolved around the registration of securities, analysis of every registered security, evaluation of the financial condition and operations of applicants for security issuances, screening of applications for broker’s or dealer’s license, and supervision of stock and bond brokers, and stock exchanges.