SEC Shifts to Fully Online Company Registration Process

Applicants for company registration will no longer have to submit hard copies of physically signed or notarized registration documents, as the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) moves to a fully online and paperless company registration process.

The Commission on April 4 issued SEC Memorandum Circular No. 3, Series of 2025, which provides for the Mandatory Use of the SEC Zuper Easy Registration Online (ZERO) in the Registration of Corporations Using the Electronic Simplified Processing of Application for Registration of Company (eSPARC) and One Day Submission and E-registration of Companies (OneSEC) as Portals.

SEC ZERO is an application under eSPARC that eliminates the need for physical signatures and notarization, as well as the submission of hard copies of registration documents.

The system is integrated with the Electronic SEC User Registration Environment (eSECURE), which credentials users before they can access online services of the SEC, and the Electronic Submission Authentication Portal (eSAP), which makes use of one-time passwords (OTPs) to electronically authenticate SEC required documents, in lieu of conventional paper-based signatures.

Launched in July 2024 as part of the Commission’s third wave of digital initiatives, SEC ZERO has since facilitated the registration of a total of 1,874 companies.

“SEC ZERO exemplifies our commitment to digitalization and sustainability, making setting up a business easier and faster than ever. By allowing companies to authenticate their registration documents online, company registration can now be done anytime and anywhere,” SEC Chairperson Emilio B. Aquino said.

“The credentialing process through eSECURE, plus authentication through eSAP, further enables us to filter out scheming individuals wanting to use the corporate vehicle to defraud the public. With this, those registering corporations are identified and can be held accountable, if need be,” he added.

Covered applications

Under the guidelines, all domestic stock corporations, excluding lending and financing companies, shall be processed through SEC ZERO starting on April 7, 2025. This includes corporations fully owned by Filipinos or those with foreign equity. Meanwhile, all Filipino domestic stock corporations may be processed using OneSEC.

Lending companies, financing companies, and foreign corporations shall use the regular processing under eSPARC for three months after the effectivity of MC 3. Thereafter, the mandatory use of SEC ZERO shall apply to all types of corporations.

Registration process

To register a company, applicants must first create an eSECURE account through https://esecure.sec.gov.ph/. The account must undergo the credentialing process to ensure that the one applying for registration is a real person. The system will also be able to validate the Tax Identification Numbers of applicants by cross matching records with the Bureau of Internal Revenue.

Once the applicant has an eSECURE account, he will be directed to the eSPARC portal at https://esparc.sec.gov.ph. Applicants will then be required to input the company registration details such as company type, company name, office address, capital structure, and officers, among others, across six steps.

Upon completion of the required details, the application will be submitted online. The applicant will receive an email notification that his application has been confirmed, after which the system-generated documents will be ready for authentication of the incorporators and corporate officers.

All incorporators and corporate officers must authenticate the documents through eSAP by using their respective eSECURE accounts. The authentication process involves receiving an OTP to the registered mobile number and email address of the incorporator and corporate officer, who will input the same into the system.

Once the OTP is successfully verified, the system will indicate that the document has been successfully authenticated. This means that the document is already signed.

Only when all incorporators and corporate officers have signed the necessary documents can the applicant proceed with payment of the registration fees through the Electronic System for Payments to SEC.

After payment, the applicant will be able to download the authenticated system-generated documents and digital certificate of incorporation. This holds the same validity as the traditional physical certificate, which means that the SEC will no longer issue a hard copy of the certificate.