SEC/PSE warn anew vs dubious investment firms

MANILA, Philippines - The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE) have warned investors against conducting business with several dubious companies.

An email scam, unauthorized mutual fund company and a fake stock market seminar organizer are preying on the investing public, the corporate regulators said.

In a memorandum, the PSE said it received reports that SGVN Events Management has been conducting seminars on stock market investing in Baguio City and San Fernando, La Union.

SGVN Events Management, which collects registration fees, claims to have organized the forums in partnership with the PSE.

“Please be advised that the PSE did not authorize any of its employees or representatives to conduct a stock investing seminar in Baguio City and San Fernando City,” PSE said.

It also never entered into any kind of partnership with SGVN Events Management.

The complete list of market education events and seminars sanctioned by the PSE are available at the stock exchange’s website.

For its part, SEC warned the public against an email scam that targets business ventures.

“The public is warned to take precautionary care and diligence in transacting through email with foreign suppliers/manufacturers,” SEC said.

Under the “Change of Supplier Bank Details” scam, the suspect pretending to be the supplier/manufacturer sends fictitious emails advising the victim of a change in the suppliers’ bank account details.

“Thus, the victim is misled into remitting his payment to the wrong bank account, consequently to the wrong payee,” SEC said.

The corporate watchdog is also discouraging investors from doing business with a Mindanao-based company.

SEC said Centralized Mindanao Mutual Benefit Association Inc., while registered as a corporate entity, “has not been issued a license by the Insurance Commission as a mutual benefit association.”

SEC is stepping up its efforts to warn the public against fraudulent business practices.

Late last year, Pagadian-based Aman Futures Group Philippines Inc. was exposed as a P12-billion investment scam, defrauding thousands of politicians, professionals, businessmen and employees.

For this year, priorities of the agency include the alignment of accounting standards with global best practices, public information against investment scams, development of information technology infrastructure and improvement of the registration, licensing and enforcement systems.