100% Foreign Ownership in the Philippines (2026 FINL)

TL;DR: A foreigner can own 100% of a Philippine company when the activity is not restricted by the 13th FINL and the company satisfies the applicable capital and licensing rules. Full ownership does not remove local governance requirements such as a resident treasurer and resident Filipino corporate secretary.

A foreigner can own up to 100% of a Philippine domestic corporation in most lines of business. The Philippines is far more open to full foreign ownership than its reputation suggests — but “open” is defined by exclusion. The exceptions live in one document: the Foreign Investment Negative List (FINL). If your activity is not on it, full ownership is on the table.

When 100% is allowed: the FINL check

The starting rule is simple. If your business activity is not restricted by the FINL and you meet the applicable minimum capital, you can be 100% foreign-owned. There is no general “you need a Filipino partner” requirement — that idea comes from sectors that are on the list, not from Philippine company law as a whole.

Export enterprises — those exporting at least 60% of output — are eligible for full foreign ownership regardless of activity, and benefit from a lower capital threshold. For everyone else, the question is binary: on the list, or off it. Get the activity classification right and the ownership answer follows.

What recent reforms opened up

A wave of legislation widened the field for foreign investors, and the current FINL reflects it:

• The amended Public Service Act reclassified large parts of what used to be reserved “public utilities” — opening areas such as telecommunications, domestic shipping, airlines, railways and expressways to full foreign ownership.
• The amended Retail Trade Liberalization Act (RA 11595) lowered the minimum paid-up capital floor for foreign retailers, making the Philippine consumer market reachable for far smaller operators than before.
• The Foreign Investments Act governs the minimum capital that comes with foreign equity and sets the framework the FINL sits inside.

The combined effect: sectors that were off-limits to foreigners a few years ago are now genuinely investable. For a plain-language walk-through of the current list, see the FINL 2026 explained.

Sectors still restricted

Liberalization is broad, not total. The FINL still reserves or caps foreign equity in a defined set of activities, including:

• Mass media (with narrow exceptions) and certain advertising
• The practice of licensed professions that require Philippine citizenship
• Small-scale mining
• Private security agencies
• Manufacture of firearms, explosives and similar controlled goods

Some lines allow partial foreign equity — commonly capped at 40% — rather than an outright ban. The list is the authority; assumptions are not. The same business described two different ways can land on opposite sides of a restriction.

The capital that comes with it

Full ownership is not free of conditions. Under the Foreign Investments Act, a domestic-market enterprise that is more than 40% foreign-owned generally needs US$200,000 in paid-in capital, reducible to US$100,000 where the business uses advanced technology, is endorsed as a startup, or keeps a majority-Filipino workforce with at least 15 direct Filipino workers. Export enterprises are exempt and register at the standard local minimum. The detail — and the documentary proof the SEC expects — sits on our minimum paid-in capital 2026 page.

Governance roles you still need

This is where founders most often trip: 100% ownership is not the same as no local requirements. A wholly foreign-owned corporation is still a Philippine corporation, and Philippine corporate-governance rules apply in full. You will still need:

• Incorporators and directors that satisfy the Revised Corporation Code
• A corporate secretary who is a resident Filipino citizen
• A resident treasurer

Filling the secretary and treasurer roles reliably is what our corporate secretarial services exist for. Depending on structure and registration route, you may also need a resident agent to receive official correspondence on the company’s behalf. None of these dilute your ownership — they keep the company compliant.

How to confirm your specific activity

Because the FINL changes and activity classification is the whole game, the safe move is to confirm your exact business against the current 13th Regular FINL (Executive Order 113, effective 2 May 2026) before you commit capital. If you are still weighing structures, our guide to the best entity type for foreigners puts ownership in context.

Chamberlain will check your activity against the current list, confirm your maximum ownership and minimum capital in writing, and handle the secretarial roles so you can incorporate with certainty. Talk to an advisor.