SEC closes 12 online lending operators without licenses
Credit to Author: TYRONE JASPER C. PIAD| Date: Mon, 14 Oct 2019 16:21:38 +0000
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) halted operations of 12 illegal online lending applications found to be running without necessary licenses.
In a statement on Monday, the regulator said that it had issued cease and desist orders against A&V Lending Mobile, A&V Lending Investor, AV Lending Corp., Cashaku, Cashaso, CashEnergy, Happy Loan, Peso Pagasa, Vito Lending Corp., Phily Kredit, Rainbow-Cash, and Rainbowcash.Ph Lending Corp. on October 10.
“The SEC enjoined the owners and operators of the online lending applications, their agents, representatives and promoters, the owners of their hosting sites and all persons acting for and on their behalf to immediately cease and desist, under pain of contempt, from engaging in, promoting and facilitating unauthorized lending activities,” it said.
Last month, the SEC issued cease and desist orders against 30 unauthorized online lending operators. These are Cash Whale, Cash 100, Cashafin, CashFlyer, CashMaya, Cashope, Cashwarm, Cashwow, Creditpeso, ET Easy
Loan, Peso2Go, Instant Pera, QuickPera, Lendmo Philippines, Binixo, CashBus, Cashcat, Cashuttle, Crazy Loan, Flash Cash, Happy2Peso, Hatulong, MeLoan, MoneyTree Quick Loan, Pera Express, Pera4u, Peramart, PesoLending, QuickPeso and Umbrella.
SEC’s findings noted that the online lending entities do not have certificates of authority to operate as lending or financing companies.
“Considering that the online lending operators are not incorporated entities or have no certificate of authority to operate as lending companies or financing companies, the lending activities and transactions are illegal and have to be stopped immediately by this commission,” the order stated.
Violators may face a fine ranging from P10,000 to P50,000 or imprisonment of six months to 10 years or both.
The regulator was set to meet with Google Philippines on Monday in the hope of implementing stricter measures for the registration of applications in Google Play to counter the increasing number of illegal online lending operators on the platform.
Google Play is an online application store.
“I will encourage them if they (Google) could set standards in relation to this. I’m hoping they’ll cooperate with us, they’ll help us in this,” SEC Commissioner Kelvin Lester Lee told reporters last week.
“We are shutting them down as quickly as we can. Pero marami talaga eh, nagsusulputan sila nang mabilis (But they are too many, they are sprouting quickly),” he added.