Philippines

Overview

Field	Value
Region	Asia-Pacific
ISO 3166-1	PH / PHL
Registry	Philippine Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)
Last updated	2026-05-06

Identifiers

Collect two identifiers from each business customer in Philippines and submit them as strings on the application body.

API field	Local name	Issuer
`businessInfo.taxId`	TIN	Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR)
`businessInfo.businessEntityId`	SEC Registration Number	Philippine Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)

Tax ID: TIN issued at BIR registration; COR (Form 2303) is the principal tax-registration certificate. VAT registration required if annual gross sales ≥ PHP 3,000,000. Registration number: Assigned on issuance of Certificate of Incorporation via eSPARC; appears on the digitally signed certificate.

Sector regulators

BSP · IC · AMLC · SEC · CDA · DTI

Legal structures

Local name	Abbreviation	Description
Stock Corporation	Corp. / Inc.	Share-capital company with ≥2 incorporators (no maximum since RA 11232); board of 5–15 directors; most common Philippine commercial vehicle with separate legal personality and transferable shares. Equivalent to a US C-Corp.
One Person Corporation	OPC	Single-stockholder corporation introduced by RA 11232 s.116; separate legal personality with limited liability; sole stockholder serves as sole director and president. Equivalent to a US C-Corp (single-shareholder variant).
General Partnership	GP	Two or more partners each bearing unlimited personal liability for partnership obligations; registered with SEC; treated as a juridical person once registered. Equivalent to a US General Partnership (GP).
Limited Partnership	LP	One or more general partners with unlimited liability plus one or more limited partners whose liability is limited to their capital contribution; SEC registration required. Equivalent to a US Limited Partnership (LP).
Sole Proprietorship	—	Single natural person trading under their own name or a registered business name; no separate legal personality; owner bears unlimited personal liability; registered with DTI via the BNRS portal. Equivalent to a US Sole Proprietorship.
Non-Stock Corporation	—	No capital stock; organized for charitable, religious, educational, civic, or similar non-profit purposes; governed by trustees; registered with SEC. Equivalent to a US Nonprofit Corporation (501(c)(3)).
Cooperative	Coop	Member-owned enterprise organized under the Cooperative Code (RA 9520); registered with and regulated by the Cooperative Development Authority (CDA), not the SEC. Equivalent to a US Cooperative.
Branch of Foreign Corporation	—	Revenue-generating extension of a foreign parent corporation licensed by the Philippine SEC; requires USD 200,000 inward remittance; subject to full Philippine corporate income tax. Equivalent to a US Branch/Rep Office.
Representative Office	—	Liaison and promotional office of a foreign corporation; may not derive income in the Philippines; requires USD 30,000 annual inward remittance; licensed by the Philippine SEC. Equivalent to a US Branch/Rep Office.
Regional Headquarters	RHQ	Administrative supervision and coordination center of a multinational; cannot earn income in the Philippines; licensed by the Philippine SEC under RA 8756; requires USD 50,000 annual remittance. Equivalent to a US Branch/Rep Office.
Regional Operating Headquarters	ROHQ	Income-earning foreign multinational office that provides qualifying services to affiliates in the Asia-Pacific; licensed by the Philippine SEC under RA 8756; taxed at the regular corporate income tax rate (25%, or 20% for SMEs) since the CREATE Act (RA 11534) effective 2022. Equivalent to a US Branch/Rep Office.

How documents combine

For each evidence area, this table shows whether the listed documents are alternatives (any one of) or a bundle (all required). The artifact-by-artifact lookup follows below.

Evidence area	Documents needed
Legal Registration	SEC Certificate of Incorporation
Constitutive Documents	All required: Articles of Incorporation + By-Laws
Tax Registration	BIR Certificate of Registration
Operating Permit	Mayor’s Permit
Ownership Records	GIS — Stockholders section
Governance Records	GIS — Directors and Officers section
Signing Authority	All required: Secretary’s Certificate + Board Resolution
Address	Any one of: Lease Agreement · Utility Bill · Bank Statement
Good Standing	SEC Certificate of Good Standing

Documents to collect

The physical documents you’ll collect from your customer, with the evidence area each one proves. One document can prove multiple areas — for example, Brazil’s Cartão CNPJ covers both tax and business-registration proof, so it appears once with both areas listed.

Document	Proves
SEC Certificate of Incorporation	Legal Registration
Articles of Incorporation	Constitutive Documents
By-Laws	Constitutive Documents
BIR Certificate of Registration (Form 2303)	Tax Registration
Mayor’s Permit	Operating Permit
GIS — Stockholders section	Ownership Records, Governance Records
Secretary’s Certificate	Signing Authority
Board Resolution	Signing Authority
Lease Agreement	Address
Utility Bill (≤90 days old)	Address
Bank Statement (≤90 days old)	Address
SEC Certificate of Good Standing	Good Standing
Sector-Specific License	BSP Certificate of Authority, License to Operate

Collection notes

Legal Registration: Issued digitally via eSPARC; bears Document Identifier Number (DIN). For foreign corps: SEC License to Do Business.
Constitutive Documents: Single combined filing in eSPARC; stamped copy returned with Certificate. For OPCs, a slightly simplified form applies.
Tax Registration: Issued by the BIR Revenue District Office. Accompanied by the BIR TIN card for verification.
Operating Permit: Issued by the LGU where the principal office is located; renewed annually. Preceded by Barangay Business Clearance.
Sector-Specific License: Required only for regulated-sector clients; acronyms: BSP, IC, AMLC, SEC (capital markets).
Ownership Records: GIS lists current stockholders and percentage holdings; filed annually via eFAST.
Governance Records: Lists names, nationalities, TINs, and addresses of all current directors and officers; filed annually via eFAST.
Signing Authority: Standard instrument certifying board authorization for specific acts (e.g., account opening, contract execution); typically notarized. Power of Attorney also accepted.
Address: Lease (no time bound) OR utility bill OR bank statement; utility bill and bank statement must be dated within 90 days. Same evidence satisfies both registered-address and operating-address checks.
Good Standing: Issued by the Philippine SEC Company Registration and Monitoring Department (CRMD); confirms the corporation is currently existing, in good standing, and has filed required annual reports (GIS, AFS). Distinct from the Certificate of Incorporation (issued at formation). Requested for bank account openings, regulatory filings, and cross-border transactions.

Person roles

When you submit a person on the application body, set their role to one of Conduit’s canonical BusinessPersonRole values. Use this table to map a local corporate-governance title onto the right canonical role.

Local role	Canonical API role	Description
President	`CONTROLLING_PERSON`	Must be a director; chief executive; day-to-day authority; cannot concurrently serve as Secretary or Treasurer.
Director (Board Member)	`CONTROLLING_PERSON`	Elected by stockholders; governance role; board of 5–15 (or 1 for OPC).
Treasurer	`CONTROLLING_PERSON`	Elected corporate officer; manages finances; must be a Philippine resident; cannot concurrently be President.
Authorized Signatory (via Secretary’s Certificate)	`LEGAL_REPRESENTATIVE`	Person authorized by board resolution to sign contracts and bind the corporation.
Nominee Director / Trustee	`CONTROLLING_PERSON`	Persons appointed to the board by a stockholder; governance role regardless of equity.

Notes

Philippine SEC ≠ US SEC. The Philippines SEC is a domestic corporate registry and capital-markets regulator — not affiliated with the US Securities and Exchange Commission. Use “Philippine SEC” to disambiguate in all documentation.
Foreign Investment Negative List restricts equity for many sectors. Certain industries (media, land ownership, education, retail below USD 2.5M paid-up capital, utilities, etc.) cap foreign ownership at 0–40%. Always verify the current FINL before onboarding Philippine entities with foreign stockholders.

Overview

Reference

Latin America

Africa

Europe

North America

Asia (West, South & Central)

Asia-Pacific

Overview

Identifiers

Sector regulators

Legal structures

How documents combine

Documents to collect

Collection notes

Person roles

Notes

​Overview

​Identifiers

​Sector regulators

​Legal structures

​How documents combine

​Documents to collect

​Collection notes

​Person roles

​Notes

Overview

Identifiers

Sector regulators

Legal structures

How documents combine

Documents to collect

Collection notes

Person roles

Notes