SEC Releases MC Adopting ASEAN SRFS
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) released SEC Memorandum Circular No. 4, Series of 2023 on April 13, 2023.
The Memorandum Circular was released to formally adopt the Asean Sustainable and Responsible Funds Standards (ASEAN SRFS) and to issue rules on the qualification of local investment companies, and the recognition of a foreign collective investment scheme qualified under the ASEAN SRFS.
The ASEAN SRFS was developed by the ASEAN Capital Market Forum (ACMF) whose primary responsibility is to develop a deep, liquid, and integrated regional capital market composed of a group of market regulators from 10 ASEAN jurisdictions—Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Indonesia, Lao PDR, Malaysia, Myanmar, Singapore, Thailan, Vietnam, and the Philippines.
The adoption of the ASEAN SRFS shall apply to Investment Companies, including sub-funds of umbrella funds, that seek to qualify under the ASEAn SRFS and want to either offer locally or on a cross-border basis under the ASEAN CIS Framework; and CIS Operators and Foreign SRF that seek to offer in the Philippines under the ASEAN CIS Framework.
The Rules also provide for administrative actions of the SEC—suspension or revocation of an investment company in case it is no longer compliant with the Local SRIF Rules and/or the ASEAN SRFS.
The Rules shall take effect after publication in two newspapers of general circulation in the Philippines.
The Memorandum Circular may be read in full here.
The corresponding press release may be read here.