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The Securities and Exchange Commission has received information that
individuals or group of individuals representing
PHILHELP ADMINISTRATION OF
FINANCIAL MARKETING/PHILHELP INTERNATIONAL LENDING CORPORATION
(“PhilHelp”)
are offering loans to the public and enticing them to invest their money
with the entity with the promise of monetary rewards or
profits.
PhilHelp (with
website:
https://www.philhelp.net/
) is engaged in the so
–
called
“Peer
–
to
–
Peer Lending” and operates a P2P Funding Platform or virtual marketplace
where borrowers and lenders purportedly meet and interact direct
ly. Through said
platform, PhilHelp offers and extends different types of loans (personal loan, fast loan,
palengke
loan and insta loan) to borrowers. On the other hand, through PhilHelp’s
facility, investors/lenders sign up and deposit/contribute money to
be pooled by PhilHelp
to fund these loans and in turn, receive returns on their investments.
Further, the company has a scheme where a lender is entitled to a
guaranteed
interest/profit of a total of 180% (
30% monthly for 6 months).
For lenders
–
Minimum capital =
Php2,000.00;
–
Maximum capital =
Php5,000,000.00;
–
The amount invested will be locked
–
in for six
months;
–
Receive 30% interest
per month
for five months and on the sixth month, the
capital will be given back with
interest;
–
Earn 5% for direct
referrals;
–
Earn 1% for indirect
referrals;
–
Encashment every Thursday and Friday for weekly referral commissions; and
Payout Friday the following
week.
2k
–
up to 2nd level
5k
–
up to 5th level
100k
–
up to 10th level
500k
–
up to 15th level
5M
–
up to 20th level
Thus, the lending activity of Ph
ilHelp is a circumvention of the
Lending Company
Regulation Act of 2007
which requires that those engaged in the business of lending
must be a corporation and must secure a
Certificate of Authority to Operate as a
Lending Company.
Further, the solicitatio
n of investments by PhilHelp through the pooling of funds
from various “lenders” to accommodate the intended loan amounts of the borrowers,
where the lenders earn interest just by placement of money, involves the offering and
sale of securities in the form
of investment contracts.
Since said scheme involves the sale of securities to the public, the Securities
Regulation Code (SRC) requires that these securities are duly registered with the
Commission and that the concerned corporation and/or its agents have appropriate
registration
and/or license to sell such securities to the public pursuant to Sections 8.1
and 28.1 of the SRC.
Records of the Commission show that PHILHELP ADMINISTRATION OF
FINANCIAL MARKETING/PHILHELP INTERNATIONAL LENDING
CORPORATION
(“PHILHELP”) is
not
registered either as a corporation or as a partnership. However,
PHILHELP ADMINISTRATION OF FINANCIAL MARKETING has been issued
a
Certificate of Business Name Registration on 10 September 2020 by the Department
of Trade and Industry
with Business Name No. 2155990 under the name of its
President,
Mr. REYNALDO PAMEN
. Nonetheless, PhilHelp is
not authorized to
solicit investments from the public
as it did not secure prior registration and/or
license to solicit investments from the Commis
sion as prescribed under Section 8 of
the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Further,
PhilHelp
is also
NOT REGISTERED
either as a crowdfunding
intermediary or a funding portal under SEC Memorandum Circular No. 14, Series of
2019 or the
Rules and Regulatio
ns Governing Crowdfundin
g.
Accordingly, the Commission warns all unscrupulous individuals and/or
entities that
strict penalties are imposed for violations of the Securities
Regulation Code, the Revised Corporation Code, the Lending Company
Regulation Act a
nd such other laws, rules and regulations enforced by the
Commission
.
Hence, those who act as salesmen, brokers, dealers or agents or claim to act
as such of
PhilHelp
in selling or convincing people to invest in the investment
scheme being offered by said
entities including solicitations and recruitment through
the internet may be prosecuted and held criminally liable under Section 28 of the
SRC and penalized with a maximum fine of Five Million pesos (Php5,000,000.00) or
penalty of Twenty
–
one (21) years of
imprisonment or both pursuant to Section 73 of
the SRC.
Also, those who invite or recruit others to join or invest in such venture or offer
investment contracts or securities to the public may incur criminal liability, or
otherwise be sanctioned or penalized accordingly as held by the Supreme Court in
the case
of
Securities and Exchange Commission vs. Oudine Santos (G.R. No.
195542, 19 March 2014)
.
Further, the names of all those involved will be reported to the
Bureau of
Internal Revenue (BIR)
so that the appropriate penalties and/or taxes be
correspondingly as
sessed.
In view thereof, the public is advised
NOT TO INVEST or STOP INVESTING
in any investment scheme being offered by
PHILHELP ADMINISTRATION OF
FINANCIAL MARKETING/PHILHELP INTERNATIONAL LENDING
CORPORATION
and exercise caution in dealing with any indi
viduals or group of persons soliciting
investments or recruiting investors for and on behalf of
PHILHELP ADMINISTRATION
OF FINANCIAL MARKETING/PHILHELP INTERNATIONAL LENDING CORPORATION
.
Should you have any information regarding any investme
nt solicitation by any
individuals or group of individuals on behalf of
PHILHELP ADMINISTRATION OF
FINANCIAL MARKETING/PHILHELP INTERNATIONAL LENDING CORPORATION
,
please send your report to the ENFORCEMENT AND INVESTOR PROTECTION
DEPARTMENT at
epd@sec.gov.ph.
For the guidance of the public.
Pasay City, 17 September
2020