MANILA -- On Tuesday morning last week, Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. rang the opening bell at the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE) -- not for a new listing but to mark the first day of a law aimed at jump-starting the country's sluggish capital markets.
The Capital Market Efficiency Promotion Act (CMEPA), a long-awaited reform designed to slash trading taxes and modernize market rules, took effect on July 1. By lowering transaction costs and bringing the Philippines in line with its ASEAN peers, the law is viewed as a foundational step toward revitalizing a market that has long lagged behind its regional counterparts in liquidity and investor participation.
