Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III said continuing reforms in the capital market have made this sector more inclusive and averse to insider trading, which has buoyed investor confidence in the stock exchange whose capitalization surged to over P16.4 trillion this year.

With the Philippines’s capital market ” finally coming of age, ” Dominguez said the best-managed corporations have managed to grow quickly and offer alternatives for enterprises to raise capital from sources other than traditional bank financing.

“Things have been changing dramatically in our capital market over the past few years. Reforms in disclosure rules have curtailed insider trading and encouraged investors’ participation in the market, confident this has become an even playing field fair for all investors,” Dominguez said at Tuesday’s 10th anniversary celebration of the listing of Phoenix Petroleum Philippines Inc. held at the Manila Peninsula Hotel.

Phoenix Petroleum was the first company from Davao City to list on the Philippine Stock Exchange after an initial public offering on July 11, 2007.

The finance chief, who hails from Davao City, described Phoenix’s decision to list on the local bourse as a “bold and unprecedented move.”

Dominguez said reforms in the capital market are continuing, making it more inclusive.

“Information relating to the operations of listed companies are available to the smallest player investing his retirement fund in the hope of better returns,” he said.

Dominguez said that the Philippines’ stock market capitalization reached P16.4 trillion as of July 7, 2017, while the fixed income market, as of end-March, reached P4.9 trillion, with fixed income exchange recorded at P1.5 trillion in the first half of the year.

One of the companies that have boldly chosen to take advantage of the maturation of the stock market is Phoenix Petroleum whose success story celebrates “the triumph of foresight and audacity,” said Dominguez.

He said Phoenix Petroleum’s success in raising capital through the stock market marks a path that other enterprises can take, confident in the company’s experience which demonstrates that “a level playing field will reward the truly meritorious.”

“That is what deepening reforms in our capital market is all about,” Dominguez said.

“The more companies list in the exchange, the greater the incentive for them to meet global benchmarks in corporate governance. The market demands transparent and accountable corporate governance as well as reliable rules of the game. It hastens the modernization of our domestic economy, allowing our best companies to access not only local but also foreign investments,” he noted.