SEC Facebook

Based on the information gathered by the Commission
,
the e
n
tit
ies
operating
under the name
s
CENTRIC CORP LTD
and
CENTRIC FOUNDATION
(
CENTRIC
)
,
the developer of
CENTRIC RISE
and
CENTRIC CASH
,
are
engaged in inv
estment
–
taking activities
in the Philippines
which
are
NOT AUTHORIZED
by the Commission.
CENTRIC is a private company registered in
the
United Kingdom with offices
in London and Singapore
and uses the domain “
www.joincentric.com
” i
n
its
transactions.
CENTRIC
states
that it
s
dual
–
token economic model called
CENTRIC RISE
and CENTRIC CASH
are
new type
s
of cryptocurrenc
ies
that are
designed
to
continuously appreciate in value
due to the
apparent
d
evelopment of their
unique
price blocks that
seems to
update each hour
.
As posted online,
CENTRIC is enticing the public to invest in
the said
tokens
under the pretext that
its prices are still low
and
its worth
will
rise each hour
despite
the fact that t
hese tokens are apparently
in the early stages of
its
development and
that
CENTRIC
is still
in the process of
establish
ing
its network and
business
legalities
.
To wit
:
CENTRIC a
sserts
th
at the
constant
price
increase of its
CENTRIC RISE and
CENTRIC
CASH
is the core focus and primary incentive
in
join
ing
its
network early
.
CENTRIC claims that
the
value
of its tokens increase
s
by
Twenty
–
Eight
and a half Percent (28.5%) per month
or a total
growth
of Three Hundred Forty
–
Two Percent (342%) annually
.
CE
NTRIC
also
added that it
is
creating
a referral program for its investors
that
wil
l
reward
them
for sharing
and/
or offering
CENTRIC RISE and CENTRIC CASH to
others
.
D
ue to
the above
promise of
lucrative return
with little or no risk
,
price
predictability
,
and
price
stability
, many investors are lured into CENTRIC’s scheme
even if
its
CENTRIC RISE and CENTRIC CASH
are not yet listed
or accepted
in
public exchanges.
The problem
,
however,
is that
the value of
CENTRIC RISE and CENTRIC
CASH
now appears to be h
alted
indefinitely
.
According to CENTRIC, it is
currently
processing the decentralization of its tokens and is in the course of listing
said
tokens on major exchanges around the world. Hence, until such time that these
procedures are finished,
CENTRIC
sugg
ests
that its
investors
should
hold their
tokens
momentarily
or
they may opt to
sell or trade their tokens directly to another
or
t
hrough a
CENTRIC’s private
exchange
that
impose
s
a
“
Trading Bonus
System
”
or
a steep
minimum trade volume requirement which i
s a favorite tool
used
by
scammers
to prevent their investors from withdrawing their monies in its system.
I
t must be emphasized
that
the CENTRIC RISE and CENTRIC CASH are
considered as “
Derivatives
” which are securities
as defined under Section 3.1 of th
e
Securities Regulation Code (SRC)
.
As specified in the
SEC ADVISORY
dated
05 May 2020
, some
cryptocurrencies are considered as derivative
s
if their value relies on the underlying
assets or
volume of
funding
gathered by
their
developer
s
from investors i
n support of
said
projects or ventures.
Moreover, the act of offering and selling of such cryptocurrencies known as
“
crowdselling
”
is synonymous to the
offering and selling of securities, in the form of
an investment contract, to the public
.
This is re
lative to the
SEC ADVISORY
on
Initial Coin Offerings
and
Virtual
Currency
posted
08 January 2018
which
provides that
some virtual currencies,
based on the facts and circumstances surrounding their issuance, follow the nature
of a security as defined by Sec
tion 3.1 of the Securities Regulation Code (SRC)
.
Therefore, these securities must be duly registered with the Commission and
that any person or entity intending to offer and sell such securities are required to
secure the necessary registration and/or l
icense
from the Commission
as well.
However, per our record
,
CENTRIC CORP LTD
and
CENTRIC
FOUNDATION
including
its
CENTRIC RISE
and
CENTRIC CASH
are
NOT
REGISTERED
with the Commission
and
OPERATE WITHOUT THE NECESSARY
LICENSE AND/OR AUTHORITY
t
o solici
t, accept or take investments/placements
from the public nor to issue investment contracts and other forms of securities
defined under Section 3 of the Securities Regulation Code (SRC)
.
Likewise, their names
DO NOT APPEAR
among the registered banks,
excha
nges or companies engaged in digital assets with the Bangko Sentral ng
Pilipinas (BSP
) in accordance with the
GUIDELINES FOR VIRTUAL CURRENCY
EXCHANGES
(
BSP CIRCULAR NO. 944
)
which
requires
all entities
engaged in
Virtual Currencies
in the Philippines
to o
btain a Certificate of Registration to operate
as remittance and transfer company pursuant to the BSP rules and regulation
s.
Hence
, the
public is advised
NOT TO BUY
CENTRIC RISE
and
CENTRIC
CASH
and
NOT TO INVEST
or
STOP INVESTING
in any scheme
or promo
offered
by
CENTRIC CORP LTD
and
CENTRIC FOUNDATION
or such other entities
engaged
in cryptocurrencies and digital
–
asset trading
that are not registered with the
Commission and the BSP.
T
he Commission
always emphasizes
in its Advisories that cryptocurre
ncies
are very volatile and the process of digital
–
asset trading is highly speculative and
involves a higher degree of risk.
Thus
, any dubious promise of definite returns
as
offered by CENTRIC
is un
accountable
because such scheme is
considered as “
too
good
to be true
”
which i
s an indication of a possible
Ponzi Scheme
.
T
he
Commission
continually
encourages the public to
be cautious and
prudent in making or placing
their
monies on
such
schemes.
Accordingly
, the Commission warns
all unscrupulous individuals
and/or
entities t
hat
strict penalties are imposed
for v
iolat
ions of
the
Securities
Regulation Code, the Revised Corporation Code, and such other rules and
regulation enforce
d by the Commission
.
T
hose who act as salesmen, brokers, dealers or agents of
such
unauthorized
entities
in selling or convincing people to invest in the
ir
investment scheme
offered
including solicitations and recruitment through the internet may
likewise be criminally
prosecuted
and penalized with a maximum fine of Five Million pesos
(
P5,000,000.00) or
a
penalty of Twenty
–
one (21) years of imprisonment or both
pursuant to Section
s 28 and
73 of the SRC.
In the same manner, t
hose who invite or recruit others to join or invest in such
venture or offer investment contracts or securities t
o the public
ma
y incur criminally
liability, or otherwise be sanctioned or penalized accordingly
as held
by the Supreme
Court in the case of
S
EC
vs. Oudine Santos
(G.R. No. 195542, 19 March 2014).
T
he names of all those involved will
also
be reported to t
he Bureau of Internal
Revenue (BIR) so that the appropriate penalties and/or taxes be assessed
correspondingly.
Apart thereof,
the
Bayanihan to Heal as One Act
(
Republic Act No. 11469
)
also punishes those participating in cyber incidents that make use or
take advantage
of the current crisis situation to prey on the public through scams, phishing,
fraudulent emails, or other similar acts.
It must be noted that
the above
laws are not aimed to hinder or pose
significant risk to businesses and cryptocurrency
projects as contended by CENTRIC
because said laws are actually intended for the protection of both the registered
entities and the investing public from any anomalies and/or irregularities which tend
to result from any unlawful or unauthorized operations.
Should you have any information regarding any investment solicitation activity
by any individual or group of individuals representing
CENTRIC CORP LTD
and
CENTRIC FOUNDATION
including its
CENTRIC RISE
and
CENTRIC CASH
, please
send your report to the E
IPD at epd@sec.gov.ph.
For the guidance of the public.
Pasay City, 0
9
June
2020