Sam Calleja/Rappler; image from PSE, files
SEC Chair Francis Lim tells Rappler that the regulator has no intention of retreating
Two of the Philippine Stock Exchange’s (PSE) longest-serving broker-directors have asked the Court of Appeals to strike down the Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) new term-limit rule, escalating what began as a corporate-governance reform into a potentially defining test of how far the regulator can go in reshaping the governance of the country’s only securities exchange.
Veteran stockbrokers Ma. Vivian Yuchengco and Eddie T. Gobing filed a petition for certiorari and prohibition before the Court of Appeals on Wednesday, August 5, seeking to nullify Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Memorandum Circular No. 17, Series of 2026, which imposes a maximum cumulative tenure of 10 years on broker-directors.
The petitioners argue that the SEC exceeded the powers delegated to it under the Securities Regulation Code and Revised Corporation Code. They contend that no statute expressly authorizes the regulator to impose term limits on broker-directors and that the circular violates constitutional guarantees of due process and equal protection by singling out broker representatives. They also argue that restricting the eligibility of longtime directors interferes with shareholders’ ability to elect their preferred representatives.
