THE Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) said they signed a memorandum of understanding to simplify compliance requirements for businesses, including the filing of audited financial statements. A key initiative under the agreement is the proposed Unified Audited Financial Statements Submission Portal, which will be pursued through a separate memorandum of agreement. The portal is intended to allow corporations to submit their audited financial statements through a single platform, with the documents securely transmitted to the appropriate systems of both the SEC and the BIR. SEC Commissioner McJill Bryant T. Fernandez said closer coordination can help reduce regulatory requirements and improve the business environment. BIR Commissioner Charlito Martin R. Mendoza said the agreement will support efforts to streamline the submission of audited financial statements by corporations.