SEC: No decision yet on reduction of public float for GCash

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has yet to decide on lowering the 20% minimum public float requirement as it has not yet received an application for exemptive relief, a top official said Wednesday.

SEC chairperson Emilio Aquino said the agency has yet to receive a request from GCash to lower the minimum public float to 10% to 15% for it to go public.

“Wala pa [None yet]. It never reached me. It hasn’t reached me yet… So far wala pa namang filing eh [there is no filing yet]. They should go to us first,” he told reporters on the sidelines of the 2025 International Tax and Investment Conference in Pasay City.

Aquino was referring to the possible relaxation of the minimum public float requirement for companies looking to offer at least P5 billion in their initial public offerings (IPOs), which the SEC will have to review within a 45-day period.

The prospective GCash IPO is one of the most anticipated initial public offerings, seeking at least $8 billion in valuation when it goes public possibly later this year, according to a Bloomberg report with Globe Telecom Inc. president and chief executive officer Ernest Cu.

In the report, Cu also said this will partly depend on whether the SEC would agree to a lower minimum public float requirement of 10 to 15%.

“We have to evaluate. There are so many things we have to consider. Hindi lang naman basta-basta lang [This is not just for anything],” Aquino said.

“Of course, there are different regulatory objectives in mind. One is to promote… As much as possible, we want to get more listings, that’s one, but at the same time, iba-balance mo ‘yung protection [You will balance the protection]…those things,” he added.

GCash, which has about 94 million users, is registered with the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) as a non-bank financial institution electronic money issuer (EMI-NBMF). It is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Mynt (Globe Fintech Innovations Inc.), which is in turn a partnership of Globe Telecom Inc., the Ayala Group, and Ant Financial. — BM, GMA Integrated News