Philippine Corporation Code amended after 38 years

It would be a lot easier for local business owners and investors to register their businesses with the Securities and Exchange Commission with the amendment of the decades-old Corporation Code of the Philippines.

President Rodrigo Duterte signed the Revised Corporation Code during a ceremony in Malacañang Palace on February 20, 2019. His administration targets to simplify corporate governance standards and establish a more business-friendly environment that would help corporations to thrive.

Also, the principal author of its Senate version, Senator Franklin Drilon, said that the revisions would stop the current practice of businessmen registering a corporation under the names of family members.

The Revised Corporation Code has the following salient features:

• One person can incorporate since minimum number of incorporators is removed.
• There is no minimum capital requirement.
• Perpetual existence of corporations is allowed since the fifty-year-limit is eliminated.
• Electronic filing of reportorial requirements is permitted.
• Attendance in meetings via remote communication or in absentia is now acceptable.

According to the lawmakers, the new code will also strengthen corporate governance standards and provide protection to minority stockholders by requiring corporations vested with the public interest to have independent directors.