SEC Chairman Aquino ends term

OUTGOING Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Chairperson Emilio B. Aquino is ending his term with a seven-year streak of unmodified opinions from the Commission on Audit (CoA) for the commission’s financial state-ments.

The SEC received confirmation on June 2 that the CoA issued an “unmodified opinion,” also known as an “unqualified opinion,” on the fairness of the presentation of the commission’s 2024 financial statements.

An unmodified opinion is awarded when auditors determine that the financial statements are free from material misstatements.

“As corporate registrar and capital market regulator, it is only fitting that the SEC uphold the highest standards of transparency and accountability in the management of public funds,” Mr. Aquino said in an emailed statement on Thursday.

“This affirms our steadfast commitment to transparency, accountability, and sound fiscal management in serving the public trust. We hope that by leading by example, the corporate sector is able to follow suit in exercising sound fund management in their overall operations,” he added.

The SEC also received unqualified opinions for its financial statements from 2018 to 2023, translating to the longest streak of unqualified opinions that the corporate regulator has received over the past decade.

On Tuesday, Malacañang announced that Mr. Aquino will be replaced by prominent lawyer Francisco Edralin Lim as the SEC chief.

Mr. Aquino, whose term expires today (June 6), was the first certified public accountant and lawyer to serve as SEC chairperson. The Securities Regulation Code mandates that the SEC chairperson must be a law-yer.

Mr. Lim was the president and chief executive officer of the Philippine Stock Exchange from 2004 to 2010 and is a senior partner at the Angara Abello Concepcion Regala & Cruz Law Offices.

He was also a former president of the Management Association of the Philippines and the Financial Executives Institute of the Philippines. — Revin Mikhael D. Ochave