The Philippines splits business registration between three agencies. Corporations and partnerships are registered by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), sole proprietors register a business name with the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), and cooperatives are registered by the Cooperative Development Authority. Since the Revised Corporation Code of 2019 a single person can incorporate, and registration runs through the SEC’s electronic systems eSPARC and OneSEC. Beneficial ownership is collected but expressly not published.

The official company register in the Philippines

The company registrar is the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), at sec.gov.ph, acting under the Revised Corporation Code of the Philippines (Republic Act No. 11232), which replaced the 1980 Corporation Code in 2019 and reshaped Philippine company law: it allowed a single incorporator, gave corporations perpetual existence unless their articles provide otherwise, and removed the old requirement of at least five incorporators.

Registration is electronic. eSPARC (Electronic Simplified Processing of Application for Registration of Company) at esparc.sec.gov.ph takes applications for One Person Corporations and for domestic stock and non-stock corporations with two to fifteen incorporators, records partnerships and processes the licensing of foreign corporations to do business in the Philippines. Incorporators may be natural persons, partnerships, associations or corporations, singly or jointly, but no more than fifteen. Within eSPARC, OneSEC is the fully automated track for straightforward applications, in which the system itself generates the articles from the data entered.

The Philippines keeps separate registers for companies and for individual entrepreneurs, in different agencies:

  • SEC — corporations, partnerships and licensed foreign corporations. A partnership in the Philippines acquires juridical personality from the moment of execution of its contract, and its registration with the SEC is for recording purposes.
  • Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) — the business name of a sole proprietorship, registered through the DTI’s business name registration system. A sole proprietor is not a separate legal person and is not registered with the SEC at all.
  • Cooperative Development Authority (CDA) — cooperatives, which fall outside both of the above.

After registration a business still needs its local permits — a barangay clearance and a mayor’s permit — and its registration with the Bureau of Internal Revenue and the social agencies, several of which are now coordinated through the government’s central business portal.

Legal forms that can be registered in the Philippines

English is an official language of the Philippines and the Revised Corporation Code is enacted in English, so the forms below carry their statutory names.

Corporations under the Revised Corporation Code:

  • One Person Corporation (OPC) — the most significant innovation of the 2019 Code: a stock corporation with a single stockholder who is also the sole director and president, with limited liability and perpetual term. It replaced the practice of using nominee incorporators to reach the old minimum of five, and it can be registered through the automated OneSEC route.
  • Domestic stock corporation — the standard company, with two to fifteen incorporators, capital divided into shares and stockholders liable only to the extent of their subscription. Perpetual existence unless a fixed term is stated.
  • Domestic non-stock corporation — a corporation with members rather than stockholders and no distribution of income to them; the form for foundations, associations, schools, churches and non-governmental organisations.
  • Close corporation — a stock corporation whose articles restrict the number of stockholders and the transfer of shares and which is not listed; governed by its own title in the Code.
  • Corporation sole — the form by which the head of a religious denomination may be incorporated to administer its temporalities.
  • Foreign corporation with a licence to do business — a corporation formed abroad obtains an SEC licence to transact business in the Philippines, most commonly as a branch office, a representative office, a regional headquarters or a regional operating headquarters, each with its own permitted activities and capital requirements.

Partnerships under the Civil Code:

  • General partnership — all partners are liable pro rata with all their property for the obligations of the partnership; it acquires juridical personality on execution of the contract and is recorded with the SEC.
  • Limited partnership — includes at least one general partner with unlimited liability and limited partners liable only to the extent of their contributions; its name must carry the word “Limited” or “Ltd.”.
  • Professional partnership — a partnership formed for the exercise of a profession, which does not carry on trade or business.

Other forms:

  • Sole proprietorship — a business owned by one individual who is personally liable without limit; it has no separate legal personality and is registered only as a business name with the DTI.
  • Cooperative — a member-owned association registered with the Cooperative Development Authority under the cooperative code, widely used in agriculture, transport and credit.

Information available from the register

The SEC is the source of the corporate record. For each registered corporation the Commission holds the registered name and SEC registration number, the date of incorporation and the term of existence, the principal office address, the primary and secondary purposes, the authorised, subscribed and paid-up capital stock and the classes of shares, the incorporators, the directors or trustees and the officers, and the status of the registration — active, delinquent, suspended or revoked. For a licensed foreign corporation the record identifies the parent and its resident agent in the Philippines.

Continuing disclosure is made through two annual filings submitted electronically to the SEC: the General Information Sheet (GIS), which restates the corporation’s directors, officers, capital structure and stockholders after each annual meeting, and the Audited Financial Statements (AFS). Both are lodged through the SEC’s electronic filing and submission tool, and both can be obtained for a corporation, which makes the Philippines relatively transparent on accounts by regional standards: the audited statements of an ordinary domestic corporation are publicly obtainable, not merely those of listed issuers.

Certified copies of registration documents and of the annual filings are supplied by the SEC on request, and the Commission publishes its notices and memorandum circulars — including the lists of corporations whose registration has been revoked or which are delinquent — on its website.

What the register does not disclose

Beneficial ownership information is not public. Since 2019 the General Information Sheet has had to include beneficial ownership information, and the SEC has since issued the Beneficial Ownership Disclosure Rules of 2026 (SEC Memorandum Circular No. 15, Series of 2025), on which it has published its own frequently asked questions. But access to the data is closed: the SEC states that beneficial ownership information shall not be made available to the public. Copies may be obtained only by competent authorities — Philippine authorities that have a data sharing agreement or memorandum of agreement with the SEC, foreign competent or law enforcement authorities from countries that extend reciprocal legal assistance to the Philippines, and authorities from jurisdictions that are signatories to the IOSCO Multilateral Memorandum of Understanding. Requests are made by formal letter to the Enforcement and Investor Protection Department, signed by the head of the agency and stating the requester’s identity, the corporation concerned and the purpose.

Two structural gaps follow from the split of competences. A sole proprietorship exists in public records only as a DTI business name, with no accounts, no officers and no corporate file, so a Philippine sole trader cannot be assessed in the way a corporation can. And a cooperative is registered with the Cooperative Development Authority, so it will not be found in the SEC register at all.

Finally, the register reflects filings rather than reality between filings: because the stockholder list is restated once a year in the General Information Sheet, share transfers during the year appear only at the next annual filing, and the corporation’s own stock and transfer book is the primary record.

Documents that can be obtained from the register

  • Certificate of Incorporation — the SEC certificate evidencing that a corporation has been incorporated, with its name, registration number and date; the basic proof of legal existence for banks, tenders and contracts.
  • Certificate of Registration of a partnership — the corresponding certificate recording a partnership with the SEC.
  • Licence to do business (for a foreign corporation) — the SEC licence permitting a foreign corporation to transact business in the Philippines through a branch, representative office or regional headquarters, with the resident agent named.
  • Articles of Incorporation and By-Laws — the constitutional documents as filed, showing purposes, capital structure, share classes, the powers of the board and the rules on meetings and transfers.
  • General Information Sheet (GIS) — the annual restatement of directors, officers, capital structure and stockholders, filed after each annual meeting; the standard due-diligence document on control and ownership.
  • Audited Financial Statements (AFS) — the annual audited accounts filed with the SEC; publicly obtainable for ordinary domestic corporations as well as for listed issuers.
  • Amended articles and by-laws — the filings recording changes of corporate name, purposes, principal office, term, capital stock and share classes, together with the SEC’s certificate of the amendment.
  • Certificate of Filing of Increase of Capital Stock — the document evidencing an approved increase in authorised capital and the corresponding subscription and payment.
  • Certificate of No Derogatory Information or of good standing — the SEC confirmation of the corporation’s standing, used in tenders and cross-border procedures.
  • Documents on dissolution, revocation and reinstatement — the filings and orders showing that a corporation has been dissolved, that its registration has been revoked or that it has been reinstated, and the dates.
  • DTI Certificate of Business Name Registration — for a sole proprietorship, the certificate of its registered business name and the period of validity.
  • Beneficial ownership information — released only to competent authorities on the conditions described above, and not to the public.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the official business register in the Philippines?

There are three. The Securities and Exchange Commission registers corporations and partnerships and licenses foreign corporations; the Department of Trade and Industry registers the business names of sole proprietors; and the Cooperative Development Authority registers cooperatives.

What is a One Person Corporation?

A stock corporation with a single stockholder, introduced by the Revised Corporation Code in 2019. The sole stockholder is also the sole director and president, liability is limited, the term is perpetual, and registration can be completed through the SEC’s automated OneSEC route.

Are the accounts of Philippine companies public?

Yes. Corporations file audited financial statements with the SEC every year, together with the General Information Sheet, and both can be obtained for an ordinary domestic corporation and not only for listed issuers.

Can I find the beneficial owner of a Philippine corporation?

No. Beneficial ownership information is collected in the General Information Sheet and governed by the Beneficial Ownership Disclosure Rules of 2026, but the SEC states it shall not be made available to the public. Only competent authorities — with a data sharing agreement, reciprocal legal assistance or IOSCO multilateral memorandum standing — may obtain copies.

Where does a sole proprietor register?

With the Department of Trade and Industry, which registers the business name. A sole proprietorship has no separate legal personality and is not registered with the SEC, so no corporate file or accounts exist for it.

Do partnerships have to register with the SEC?

A Philippine partnership acquires juridical personality from the execution of its contract, so registration with the SEC is for recording purposes rather than constitutive. A limited partnership must nonetheless include “Limited” or “Ltd.” in its name.

Sources

Keywords

business register Philippines, company registry Philippines, SEC Philippines, eSPARC, OneSEC, Revised Corporation Code, One Person Corporation, DTI business name, legal forms Philippines, company documents Philippines, beneficial ownership Philippines, eFAST