Digital technology is vital for investing in capital markets

The government and the private sector have taken advantage of digital technology to promote more investment in capital markets.

In a statement, Finance Secretary and Capital Market Development Council (CMDC) Co-Chair Carlos Dominguez 3rd said the council has pushed the public and private sectors to ensure easier and safer investments for Filipinos, especially on the bond market.

In his report to the CMDC, the Deputy Treasurer of the Treasury Office (BTr) Erwin Sta. Ana said she released a mobile app to provide access to information on government securities offered by BTr and understand its financing and debt management functions.

The app also contains discussions about the risks of investing in government securities and links to front-end ordering platforms for Retail Treasury Bonds (RTBs).

Sta. Ana said the BTr app is complemented by the Land Bank of the Philippines mobile app, the Bonds.PH app and the Overseas Filipino Bank (OFBank) app.

The Philippine Dealing System Holdings Corp. (PDS Group), for its part, last May launched the portal for issuing electronic securities (e-SIP) for the primary market.

The e-SIP allows online submission of the documents required for the listing of Philippine Dealing and Exchange Corp. (PDEx) and Philippine Depository and Trust Corp. registry services and facilities. (PDTC) for issuers and their sales agents in connection with the public offering of corporate bonds. .

“Regarding the streamlining of e-SIP for the aftermarket, there is ongoing development and testing, as well as strengthening of cybersecurity to ensure that the necessary cybersecurity mitigators are in place before move on to the aftermarket phase, ”President and CEO of PDTC Officer (CEO) Ma. Theresa Ravalo said at the meeting.

Ravalo added that they are working with the Philippine Bankers Association and the National Association of Investment Dealers Inc. to maximize e-SIP to streamline the client convenience process.

For his part, PDEx President and CEO Antonino Nakpil highlighted the ongoing vulnerability assessment and penetration testing program of PDS on cyber attacks.