Foreign ownership limitations updated in the 12th Regular Foreign Investment Negative List
The government issues Executive Order (EO) 175 S. 2022, containing the updated foreign ownership limitation rules explaining which key investment areas and activities are available to foreign investors.
By Atty. Joanne Ranada, Principal, Corporate Services
Malacañang Palace has finally issued the 12th Regular Foreign Investment Negative List (“Negative List”) on June 27, 2022. The Negative List was initially created as a result of Republic Act (RA) 7042, otherwise known as “Foreign Investments Act of 1991”, which was amended on March 2, 2022, under Republic Act 11647.
The Negative List was updated to accurately reflect the changes brought about by the amendment, which revision focused on reducing the restrictions regarding foreign influence on significant investment areas and activities. Such changes showcase complete ownership liberalization for services such as subways, railways, air transport, domestic shipping, and telecommunications.
The new Negative List also reflects the updates to the Retail Trade Liberalization Act (“Retail Trade Law”) that was amended on December 10, 2021 under Republic Act No. 11595. The highlight of the amendment was allowing foreign participation in retail trade enterprises as long as the paid-up capital is more than PHP 25,000,000.00.
