The Philippines moves to introduce primary law on beneficial ownership
In another progressive move to enhance transparency in the jurisdiction, the Philippines is pushing for the introduction of a new primary law on beneficial ownership.
The Philippines has made strides in beneficial ownership (BO) reform in recent years, including through:
- enhanced access to BO information through the signing of data-sharing agreements between the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and 25 government agencies
- legislated mandatory disclosure of beneficial owners under the New Government Procurement Act
- enhanced transparency and accountability in extractives under the Fiscal Regime Act
- launched the first digital BO register - HARBOR (Hierarchical and Applicable Relations and Beneficial Ownership Register)
- enacted new regulations on beneficial ownership disclosure to improve compliance and expand coverage and access
and more.
We outlined the Philippines journey to exiting the Financial Action Taskforce greylist in this blog post from 2025.
Despite its initial success, the country is still facing implementation challenges. The Congressional Policy and Budget Research Department (CPBRD) discusses some of these challenges in a Policy Brief recommending the enactment of a primary law on beneficial ownership.
Why is a beneficial ownership law important?
A dedicated beneficial ownership law could help unify the country’s approach to BO disclosure, consolidating existing policies and procedures, and making it easier for the data that is disclosed and captured to be used for a variety of policy purposes. This CPBRD policy brief encompasses these recommendations:
- Choosing the right legislative architecture
- Establishing a clear statutory purpose
- Resolving threshold and definition gaps
- Clarifying coverage, scope, and exemptions
- Strengthening verification and data quality
- Expanding a central BO register under the Adopting a tiered access model
- Strengthening control-based test and reducing misclassificationIntegrating BO information into high-risk government processes
- Providing for effective proportionate sanctions
- Providing for implementation readiness and phased compliance
- Establishing a mechanism for sustained inter-agency coordination and review
Open Ownership, in partnership with the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime and the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative, has provided long-term technical assistance to the Philippines in implementing BOT reforms.
We are pleased to see that many recommendations included in the policy brief draw upon Open Ownership’s Opening Extractives scoping report and Guide to drafting effective legislation for beneficial ownership transparency.
A well-designed legislative framework is the foundation of any BO transparency regime. Well-drafted legislation ensures clarity, enables compliance, and helps guarantee the sustainability of reforms by enabling them to withstand potential legal challenges. A primary law would not only support the initiatives by the SEC but also ensure a whole-of-government approach in improving transparency.
