SEC opens new office in Lipa, Batangas

THE Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has opened an extension office in Lipa City, Batangas.

“The SEC Lipa Extension Office reaffirms our commitment to providing greater and more effective access to our services, ensuring consistent enforcement of corporate and securities regulations, and establishing closer coordination with partners indispensable in the implementation of our plans and programs at the local level,” SEC Chairperson Emilio B. Aquino said in a statement on Wednesday.

The SEC Lipa Extension Office will exercise jurisdiction over cities and provinces within the Calabarzon (Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Rizal, and Quezon) and Mimaropa (Mindoro, Marinduque, Romblon, and Palawan) regions.

It will take over the monitoring of existing corporations’ compliance with their reportorial requirements under pertinent laws, rules, and regulations.

“Because they are closer to the ground, our extension offices allow the Commission to closely monitor and more promptly tackle fraudulent activities such as investment scams and illegal lending,” Mr. Aquino said.

“At the same time, through our extension offices, the Commission can better amplify its information, education, communication, and advocacy campaigns, which are vital in protecting the public from investment scams, illegal lending, and other predatory schemes,” he added.

The Lipa office marks the SEC’s third extension office opened this year, following the extension offices in Koronadal in September and Butuan in March.

To date, the Commission has 13 extension offices, with the other offices located in Baguio, Tarlac, Legazpi, Cebu, Bacolod, Iloilo, Tacloban, Zamboanga, Davao, and Cagayan de Oro. — Sheldeen Joy Talavera