Emilio Benito Aquino is the first CPA-Lawyer appointed as Chairperson and CEO of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). He will serve for a term of seven years commencing on June 7, 2018. He was earlier appointed as SEC Commissioner on December 2, 2016.

After a successful decade-long practice as a CPA Lawyer, he returned to the SEC where earlier on he rose through the ranks to become the youngest Director of its former Prosecution and Enforcement (PED) and Non Traditional Securities and Instruments (NTD) Departments. He also headed the SEC Davao and Zamboanga Extension Offices where he launched capital market promotion activities as well as relentless enforcement actions against investment fraud in the countryside.

Concurrently, he is the Chairperson of the government-controlled Credit Information Corporation, as well as Chair of the Microfinance NGO Regulatory Council. He is a sitting member of the Anti-Money Laundering Council. He also chairs the ASEAN Capital Market Forum Corporate Governance Working Group.

He is the Supervising Commissioner for Enforcement and the Office of the General Counsel. As such, he has carried out a proactive and effective enforcement drive as Champion of Investor Protection. He led the recent sweep against investment scams, and illegal and abusive lenders and is now the SEC’s point man on Fintech, Blockchain and Digital Assets.

Upon his assumption as SEC Chairman, he shepherded the passage of the Revised Corporation Code, a landmark legislation that was signed into law by President Rodrigo R. Duterte last February 21, 2019.

Under his leadership, SEC was awarded in Geneva, Switzerland as one of the top recipients of the United Nations ISAR Honours 2019 for best practice in the area of sustainability and SDG reporting of companies. The Commission was also conferred the Presidential Anti-Corruption Commission Award for innovative measures undertaken in the delivery of public service. Further, SEC maintained its distinction as among the best performing government agencies per the Makati Business Club survey. Moreover, SEC made a sweep of ARTA Awards (with four plaques) for its Ease of Doing Business Initiatives and Digital Transformation, prompting the DOF Secretary to commend that this has never happened in the SEC’s history that the Commission has achieved so much in EODB and Digital Transformation.

He earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Commerce major in Accounting, Magna Cum Laude and Valedictorian at the Universidad de Zamboanga in 1984. He hurdled the CPA Licensure Exams with a rating of 89.14%. He finished his law studies at San Beda College where he was a Dean’s Lister and Silver Medalist. He placed 16th in the 1992 Bar Exams.

Under a government scholarship, he earned a Master’s degree in Public Management at the Development Academy of the Philippines, graduating at the top of his class. He was conferred a Certificate of Study by the University of Sydney for a course on Effective Governance. He likewise attended and completed the Fintech Advanced Program at the People’s Bank of China School of Finance, Tshinghua University. Just recently, he attended the Cambridge Fintech and Regulatory Innovation Program. He had also undergone the AIM Management Development Program for SEC.

He is a Major Donor of The Rotary Foundation. He was the visionary President of the Rotary Club of Zamboanga City West for RY 2009 to 2010 capping the Most Outstanding President plum plus 14 major District Awards and 6 Rotary International Citations and Distinctions. He is a Past President of the Integrated Bar of the Philippines Zambasulta Chapter which was recognized under his able leadership as the country’s Best IBP Chapter. He was elected President of the UZ Alumni Association and was thrice awarded as the Most Outstanding Alumnus of Universidad de Zamboanga in the fields of Law, Business and Accountancy. He was also recognized as an Outstanding Silver Jubilarian of the San Beda College of Law. He also held top positions in the local and regional levels of the Philippine Institute of Certified Public Accountants, which conferred him the prestigious Outstanding CPA in Government and the Special Achievement Award in Government Service. Presently, he is the Senior Vice President and member of the Boy Scouts of the Philippines National Executive Board and Chair of its Corporate Assets Management Committee. He serves as the government service representative in the ASEAN Law Association.

Javey Paul Durban Francisco is a career public servant who has been with the SEC for the last 17 years. He rose from the ranks starting out as a Securities Counsel II in 2001, promoted to Securities Counsel III in 2003, then Officer-in-charge in 2005. Prior to his appointment as Commissioner by President Rodrigo Roa Duterte on April 18, 2018, he was the SEC’s Director for its Davao Extension Office, a position he has held since 2007. Said Office has jurisdiction over SEC operations in Regions XI, XII and some parts of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao.

His professional career as a lawyer began with a stint at the Angara Abello Concepcion Regala and Cruz Law Offices or ACCRALaw where he was an associate from 1996-2000. While at ACCRA, he handled various corporate, labor, litigation as well as public interest cases. He joined the government service in 2001 with a short stay at the Office of the Ombudsman for Mindanao. In the same year, he transferred to the SEC. At the SEC, he was sent to attend two international training-conferences, the Tokyo Seminar on Securities Regulation, Tokyo, Japan sponsored by the FSA-Japan (2006) and 9th International Conference on Financial Crimes and Terrorism Financing, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia (2017).

Mr. Francisco is a product of the Ateneo de Davao University where he studied from elementary up to law school. He earned his Bachelor of Arts major in Philosophy degree in 1991 and his law degree in 1995. He was admitted to the Bar in 1996. In 2005, he earned his Master in Management degree from the University of the Philippines in Mindanao. After completing the Executive Leadership Program of the Career Executive Service Board, he was granted Career Executive Service Eligibility in 2010.

His professional and civic affiliations include the Integrated Bar of the Philippines-Davao City Chapter and the National Union of Career Executive Service Officers or NUCESO. He is the treasurer of the Association of Regional Executives of National Agencies in Region XI (ARENA XI). He was a former member of the board of trustees of the Ateneo de Davao University Alumni Association, a life member of the Mindanao Amateur Radio Association or MINDARA and is also a Past Master of Datu Bago Masonic Lodge No. 197 of the Free and Accepted Masons of the Philippines.

Kelvin Lester King Lee, a lawyer, was appointed Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Commissioner on 25 January 2019. He currently writes a business law column for the Manila Times and lectures for various Mandatory Continuing Legal Education (MCLE) programs. He also lectures on Corporate Law and Corporate Governance at the Rizal Memorial College School of Law in Davao.

Atty. Lee is the Supervising Commissioner of the Markets and Securities Regulation Department (MSRD) and the Information & Communications Technology Department (ICTD). He also spearheaded the establishment of (and currently supervises) the International Affairs and Protocol Division (IAPD) and PhiliFintech Innovation Office (PhiliFiNNO) of the Commission. He is a Philippine Representative to the ASEAN Capital Markets Forum (ACMF), Co-Chair of the Joint Sustainable Finance Working Group (JSFWG) of the ACMF, Co-Chair of the Working Committee on Capital Market Working Development (WC-CMD), an alternate member of the ASEAN Taxonomy Board and of the International Capital Markets Association (ICMA) Green Bond Advisory Council, a Member of the Executive Committee of the Financial Stability Coordination Council (FSCC), SEC representative to the Financial Sector Forum (FSF) Fintech Committee and SEC representative to the Capital Market Development Council (CMDC). He previously supervised the Corporate Governance and Finance Department (CGFD).

Prior to joining the Commission, Atty. Lee was an Assistant Secretary in the Office of the Executive Secretary (OES), Office of the President (OP). As Assistant Secretary, he was designated as the Chairman of the MTRCB Appeals Committee, Acting Chairman (on behalf of the Executive Secretary) of the Fertilizer and Pesticide Authority (FPA), and Board Member (Palace Observer) in the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA) Board of Directors.

Before entering government service, Atty. Lee held positions as a Partner in various Davao and Manila based law firms. He began his legal career as an Associate Lawyer of the Siguion Reyna Montecillo & Ongsiako (SRMO) Law Office and was a Columnist for the Sunstar Davao newspaper.

Commissioner Karlo S. Bello is a lawyer with extensive experience in government affairs and public policy. He took his oath of office as commissioner of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on 27 August 2019.
Atty. Bello previously served as undersecretary for field operations and policy, planning and research at the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR), the lead government agency ensuring the equitable distribution and cultivation of agricultural lands in the country.

At the DAR, Atty. Bello was designated as ex-officio member of the DAR Adjudication Board; chairperson of the Policy Review and Formulation Committee; vice-chairperson of the National Task Force on Land Inventory; vice-chairperson of the Technical Review Committee for the Project Beneficiaries Development/ Agrarian Reform Beneficiaries Development Support Program Monitoring and Evaluation System; and member of the Agrarian Law Implementation Rules Consolidation Team.

He was also the chairperson of the special team that represented the DAR in the InterAgency Task Force in the Formulation of the Implementing Rules and Regulations of Executive Order No. 75, Series of 2019, which directs the identification of lands owned by the government devoted to or suitable for agriculture for distribution to qualified beneficiaries.

In addition, he was designated as the department’s permanent and alternate representative to and as an action officer of the Task Force Bangon Marawi; chairperson of Task Force Agrarian Reform Boracay Island; vice-chairperson of Task Force Negros Oriental; and chairperson of the special task force constituted to address the Hacienda Nene incident in 2018.

Atty. Bello also served as councilor in Davao City for three terms from 2007 to 2016, becoming acting vice mayor and acting mayor in several occasions. As councilor, he was the president pro tempore and chairperson of the standing committees on Finance, Ways and Means and Appropriations, and Civil Political and Human Rights; and vice-chairperson of the committees on Youth and Sports, Labor and Employment Opportunities, City-owned Real Properties, Peace and Public Safety, and Ethics and Good Government.

Prior to joining the government, Atty. Bello engaged in private law practice. He is a founding partner at Tiongco Siao Bello & Associates, a full-service law firm based in Ortigas Center, Pasig City with branches in Cebu City and Davao City. He left the law firm following his appointment to the DAR.

Atty. Bello graduated from the University of the Philippines with a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science in 2000. He then earned a Juris Doctor degree from the Ateneo Law School in 2005. He would specialize in administrative law, after his admission to the Philippine Bar in 2007.

Commissioner McJill Bryant T. Fernandez was appointed by President Rodrigo Roa Duterte on 08 March 2022. Before joining the Commission, he served as the Deputy Executive Secretary for General Administration (DESGA) under the Office of the President. As DESGA, he assisted the Executive Secretary in articulating policy directives of the President through Executive Orders and other ordinances, processing of applications for the establishment of special economic zones, evaluation of Special Authorities for executive agreements, foreign loans and grants, and addressing policy, legal and administrative concerns of various agencies in the Executive department, as well as of government-owned and -controlled corporations (GOCCs).

He concurrently represented the Office of the President and the Executive Secretary in several interagency committees and oversight bodies, including the Development Budget Coordination Committee, the Fiscal Incentives Review Board, the Cabinet Cluster on Economic Development, and various Committees and Technical Committees of the National Economic Development Authority.

Commissioner Fernandez likewise served on the governing boards of different GOCCs, including the Laguna Lake Development Authority, Development Academy of the Philippines, and the Philippine Center for Economic Development.

Prior to his role as DESGA, Commissioner Fernandez worked at the Office of the Deputy Executive Secretary for Legal Affairs under the Office of the President, and handled the review of government contracts, recommendations for executive clemency, and resolution of cases from agencies exercising quasi-judicial functions, as well as administrative disciplinary cases of presidential appointees and local chief executives.

Commissioner Fernandez graduated cum laude from the University of the Philippines – Manila with a Bachelor of Arts degree, major in Political Science. He studied law at Ateneo de Manila University and finished with second honors. He was admitted to the bar in April 2009 and began his practice at the Tolentino Corvera Macasaet and Reig Law Office, where he specialized in litigation, corporate, and labor law.