Aquino appointed new SEC chairman

Securities and Exchange Commissioner (SEC) Emilio Benito Aquino has been appointed as SEC Chairman, by President Rodrigo R. Duterte, Insurance Commissioner Dennis Funa announced yesterday.

He replaced Teresita J. Herbosa whose seven-year term ended in March.

Prior to his appointment, the certified public accountant-lawyer based in Western Mindanao was one of the SEC commissioners, who was appointed by Duterte on December 2, 2016.

Aquino took his oath as commissioner before Finance Secretary Carlos G. Dominguez III last December 7, 2016.

For over a decade, Aquino was a practicing CPA-lawyer and taught commercial law subjects at the law schools of Ateneo del Zamboanga and Western Mindanao State University.

His appointment in 2016 marked his return to the SEC where he rose through the ranks to become the youngest Director of its former Prosecution and Enforcement (PED) and NonTraditional Securities and Instruments (NTD) Departments.

He is credited for having issued the most number of Cease and Desist Orders against pyramiding and boiler-room operations of pseudo investment firms.

He also headed the SEC Davao and Zamboanga Extension Offices where he launched capital market promotion activities as well as a relentless enforcement program against investment scams in the countryside.

He has now been designated as the Supervising Commissioner on Enforcement, Human Resource and Administration as well as Extension Offices concerns.

As such, he was able to carry out a proactive and effective enforcement drive of the Commission as Champion of Investor Protection.

He led the recent sweep against illegal lenders and is now the SEC's point man on Cybercrimes and Cryptocurrencies.