Lending companies suspended by SEC reach total of 104

Less than a year since launching its crackdown against illegal lenders in the country, corporate regulatory watchdog Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has already suspended a total of 104 lending firms.

In a report to Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III, SEC said it has already suspended 104 erring lending companies in the first four months of the year and is looking to revoke the primary licenses of those on this list that fail to have their suspension orders lifted by May 22.

According to SEC, these companies have failed to obtain necessary permits to legitimately operate.

SEC Commissioner Emilio Aquino said that for the second quarter of the year, the agency is expanding its investigations of lending companies suspected of either violating the law or non-compliance with SEC requirements.

Aquino, who is the SEC supervising commissioner for enforcement, informed Dominguez that the corporate watchdog will deploy enforcement teams in the regions through its extension offices in the cities of Baguio, Tarlac, Legazpi, Cebu, Cagayan de Oro, Iloilo, Zamboanga, and Davao.

In his report to Dominguez, Aquino also noted the almost 500 percent spike in the number of lending companies that were registered in the first four months of 2017.

“There has been a significant increase of 477 percent in registration of lending companies for the first four months of 2017. A total of 248 new lending companies were registered in the first four months of this year compared to only 43 last year,” Aquino said.

He also reported that the SEC assisted 143 aggrieved borrowers from all over Central Luzon in filing a criminal case against the officers and board directors of a lending company in Nueva Ecija and an aggrieved borrower in filing a criminal case against an illegal foreign lender based in Makati City. (MBM)