SEC Facebook

The instant ADVISORY is prompted by information received by the Securities
and Exchange Commission (“Commis
sion”) regarding the investment
–
taking activities
of
EPIC TRADING.
EPIC TRADING
,
with website,
https://www.epictrading.com
and Facebook
page
https://www.facebook.com/EPICtradingPH/
,
claims to be an online financial
training platform whic
h specializes in Foreign Exchange (FOREX). It offers to provide
online training to people who wants to learn the business of FOREX for a
monthly fee
of One Hundred Thirty
–
Four Dollars and Ninety
–
Nine Centavos ($134.99)
.
At first glance, it appears
to
be a legitimate training platf
orm. However, it
advertises an
offer to earn lucrative compensation to its members by way of
recruitment or referral system. If a person joins
EPIC TRADING,
he becomes an
EPIC
SCHOLAR
which entitles him to the following
services which are mostly online
classes:
What makes
EPIC TRADING
appealing to the public is
not the business of
foreign exchange but
the chance to earn
weekly and monthly referral fees from
recruitment
of
up to $1,000,000.00.
As an Epic Scholar, an
individual is entitled to
upgrade to an
INDEPENDENT BUSINESS OWNER (IBO)
by simply recruiting three
(3) persons to become an Epic Scholar and by paying an additional
Twenty
–
Four
Dollars and Ninety
–
Nine Centavos
(
$24.99)
.
By becoming an IBO, the monthly
su
bscription fee of $134.99 is now waived. In addition,
an IBO is
entitled to receive
income in accordance with the
EPIC Compensation Plan,
which is basically a typical
pyramiding cum
Ponzi scheme i.e. the more recruits, the higher the compensation:
The public is hereby informed that
EPIC TRADING
is
NOT
registered as a
corporation nor as a partnership.
EPIC TRADING
is likewise not authorized to offer,
solicit, sell or distribute any investment/securities to the public. Such activities require
a Secon
dary License from the Commission. The securities or investment product
should likewise be registered with the Commission before it can be offered to the public
as provided for by Sections 8 and 12 of Republic Act 8799 or the Securities Regulation
Code (SRC
).
Repeatedly, the public
is cautioned
that any offer or promise of ridiculous rate
s
of
return
with little or no risk similar to what
EPIC TRADING
is offering
is an indication
of a possible
Ponzi Scheme
where returns to early investors are likely to be paid out
from the investments of new investors and not out of the companies’ profits
similar to
those already flagged by the Commission as
scams
.
Those engaged in such operation tend to close or to shut d
own
operations once
they cannot gather enough investments from new investors to fund their schemes
.
The Commission is continuously reminding the public
that
the offering and sale
of
securities in the form of investment contracts using the
“Ponzi Scheme”
is
fraudulent and unsustainable
and
is
NOT A REGISTRABLE SECURITY
.
The
Commission will NOT ISSUE a License to Sell Securities to the Public
to persons
or entities that are engaged in this business or scheme
.
Moreover, the Commission does not allow the re
gistration of Foreign Exchange
(FOREX) in the nature of Commodity/Financial Futures Contract, Contracts for
Difference (CFDs) and other similar
highly
–
volatile and risky
derivatives nor their
merchants/brokers
,
as the
public trading thereof and
pertinent
rules governing these
securities
,
remain suspended pursuant to Rule 11 of the 2015 Implementing Rules
and Regulation (IRR) of the SRC. In other words, since the Commission has not yet
registered a commodity futures exchange, it follows that no commodity
futures
merchant shall likewise be registered and allowed to solicit investments in commodity
futures contracts, otherwise known as leveraged foreign currency contracts or margin
trading.
It is to be noted that the Commission
also
previously issue
d on 27 July 2018
,
an Advisory regarding FREE TRAINING SEMINARS PROMOTING FOREIGN
–
REGISTERED ELECTRONIC TRADING PLATFORMS wittingly used a front of illegal
offering and/or selling of unregistered securities
with the prospect of learning
successful strate
gies in investing and profiting from the above
–
stated securities using
various electronic investment platforms. These electronic platforms are allegedly
foreign
–
registered and are accessible anywhere in the Philippines through the internet.
IN VIEW THERE
OF
, the Public is hereby advised to exercise caution
in dealing
with any individuals or group of persons soliciting investments for and on behalf of
EPIC TRADING.
The public is further advised NOT TO INVEST or STOP INVESTING
in any investment scheme being
offered by the aforesaid entity/individuals.
Those who act as salesmen, brokers, dealers or agents of
EPIC TRADING
in
selling or convincing people to invest in the scheme being offered by
EPIC TRADING
including solicitations and recruitment may be prose
cuted and be held liable under
Section 28 of the SRC. If adjudged guilty, they can be penalized with a maximum fine
of
Five Million Pesos (Php5,000,000.00) or penalty of Twenty
–
One years of
imprisonment or both pursuant to Section 73 of the SRC
.
Also, th
ose 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
Secur
ities and Exchange Commission vs. Oudine Santos (G.R No. 195542, 19 March
2014).
Should you have any information regarding any investment solicitation by any
individuals or group of individuals representing
EPIC TRADING
, please send your
report to the EIPD at
epd@sec.gov.ph
.
For information and guidance of the public.
Pasay City,
1
8
January
20
22