The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) said over the weekend it revoked the corporate registrations and secondary licenses of 56 lending and financing companies for allegedly failing to comply with mandatory reporting requirements.
The SEC said its Financing and Lending Companies Department (FinLenD) canceled the primary registrations and operating certificates of 47 companies on May 29. These firms were declared delinquent under Republic Act No. 11232, also known as the Revised Corporation Code (RCC).
Under Section 177 of the RCC, the commission can classify a corporation as delinquent if it fails to submit required reports, such as audited financial statements, general information sheets, and directors’ compensation or performance reports, three times within a five-year period.
The SEC said all 47 companies had been notified and offered an amnesty to avoid being classified as delinquent, but none of them took advantage of the offer.
Among the companies affected were Phil Holdings Inc., Cosmopolitan Realty Corp., Bataan Financing Corp., Household Finance Corp., Isla Finance Corp., Centennial Financing Corp., Sun Finance Company Inc., Cashx Financing Inc. and Asset Forward Financing Inc.
The SEC said that on May 19, it also revoked the corporate registrations of nine additional companies for non-submission of reportorial requirements.
Two of these companies failed to comply with SEC Memorandum Circular No. 28, Series of 2020, which mandates the submission of official email addresses and mobile numbers for transactions with the commission.
The remaining seven companies were penalized for not submitting business plans, as required by SEC Memorandum Circular No. 3, Series of 2022. This memorandum enforces Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas Circular No. 1133, Series of 2021, which sets ceilings on interest rates and fees charged by lending and financing firms and their online platforms.
FinLenD reported that the companies failed to comply with SEC directives despite receiving show-cause letters and notices of deficiencies regarding their violations.
