Finance Secretary Ralph G. Recto has welcomed the implementation of an interagency data-sharing system that will facilitate a more efficient and modernized tax administration process, helping the government boost much-needed revenues to accelerate the nation’s growth.

Upon the directive of Secretary Recto, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) recently established the Swift Corporate and Other Records Exchange (SCORE) Protocol, which is a web portal that allows the Commission to share its electronic database of corporate records with partner regulatory and enforcement agencies to boost bureaucratic efficiency.

Through a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) signed on July 17, 2024 between SEC Chairperson Emilio B. Aquino and Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) Commissioner Romeo D. Lumagui, the BIR is the first agency to access the portal.

This will empower the BIR to harmonize records of registered corporations and enhance tax collection efficiency.

Among corporate documents that the BIR can have real-time access through the portal include the Articles of Incorporation, General Information Sheet (GIS), and Annual Financial Statements (AFS).

Moving forward, the SEC will onboard into the SCORE portal more financial regulators and government agencies in exigent need of its records.

“This event is a very clear demonstration of what Bagong Pilipinas’ brand of governance looks like––modern, responsive, and agile. The implementation of the Swift Corporate and Other Records Exchange exemplifies this spirit,” said Department of Finance (DOF) Undersecretary for Tax Research and Expenditure Monitoring (TREM) Renato E. Reside, Jr. in a speech delivered on behalf of Secretary Recto.

“The good Secretary assured us of his support especially in our quest for digital first experience for business and capital markets. Secretary Ralph also encouraged us to extend our digital innovation beyond the four walls of the SEC by collaborating with the Bureau of Internal Revenue for more efficient tax collection,” said SEC Chairperson Aquino.

“This will be of great help for us in our verification of corporations’ information. A real time online verification will be in place. We’d like to assure the SEC of our full support to this endeavor, which is much aligned to BIR digitalization projects. I’m looking forward to the continuous improvement of processes, policies, and systems to provide better services to our taxpayers and to aid our employees in performing their day-to-day tasks,” said BIR Commissioner Lumagui in his message.

Apart from the Protocol, the SEC launched its third wave digital initiatives under its Digital-All program, which will further enhance the ease of doing business by serving Anyone, Anytime, and Anywhere through Zero Paper, Zero Wet Signature, and Zero Notarization.

These include the Electronic Application for Modification of Entity Names and Data (eAMEND), a portal that facilitates the acceptance, processing, approval of payment, and issuance of the digital copy of the Certificate of Amendment of Domestic Stock and Non-stock Corporation.

The SEC Foreign Investment Registration Station (SEC FIRST) is a unit dedicated to help foreign corporations with licensing, registration, and monitoring, among others.

The Electronic Submission Authentication Portal (eSAP) digitally authenticates SEC documents, eliminating the need for affixed wet signatures, notarization, and hard copy submissions.

Finally, the SEC Zuper Easy Registration Online (SEC ZERO) eliminates the need for physical signing and notarization of registration documents by allowing applicants to digitally authenticate the system-generated forms through eSAP.

“The greater efficiency brought about by these programs will further deepen our capital markets, attract more investments, and broaden the country’s tax base. This will help us achieve inclusive and investment-led growth for our people,” Undersecretary Reside said.

Undersecretary Reside congratulated the SEC for their milestone achievement in digital transformation, urging them to sustain their digitalization momentum to fully revolutionize the Commission’s governance.

Furthermore, he encouraged the SEC to continue reinventing processes to enhance the country’s business climate.

“Rest assured, the Department of Finance stands ready to support the SEC and all other agencies in this endeavor of digitalization every step of the way in building an efficient and modern government that is pro-people and pro-business,” he said in closing.

The SEC launched its first wave of digital systems in 2021. Thereafter, President Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr. himself led the launching of the second wave of SEC digital initiatives in 2022, which included new advanced systems for access to corporate information and sustainability initiatives.