4 days ago
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Richmond Mercurio - The Philippine Star
March 12, 2025 | 12:00am
This photo shows the facade of the Court of Appeals.
Philstar.com / EC Toledo
MANILA, Philippines — The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has received a positive boost in its investor protection campaign after the Court of Appeals (CA) upheld the cease and desist order (CDO) issued by the commission against Superbreakthrough Enterprises Corp. for unauthorized solicitation of investments from the public.
Superbreakthrough Enterprises, doing business under the name 1UP Time, was found to have been offering securities in the form of investment contracts in the guise of selling product packages without a secondary license from the SEC.
A decision promulgated on Feb. 11 by the CA Fifth Division rejected the petition of 1UP Time and ruled that the SEC did not commit grave abuse of discretion when it issued the CDO and subsequently made it permanent.
SEC chairperson Emilio Aquino said that the CA decision is a significant step in protecting investors from unlawful investment schemes and maintaining the integrity of the financial markets.
“The SEC reiterates its commitment to safeguarding the interests of the investing public and ensuring that entities operating in the Philippines adhere to securities laws,” he said.
The SEC issued the CDO against 1UP Time and its president, directors, officers and agents in December 2023 for illegally soliciting investments from the public.
The corporate regulator made the CDO permanent in April 2024.
The CA said that the SEC may validly issue a CDO if a proper investigation or verification is conducted and if there is a finding that the act or practice, unless restrained, will operate as a fraud on investors or is likely to cause grave or irreparable injury or prejudice to the investing public.
“A review of the records shows that both requisites were present, thereby justifying the issuance of the CDO,” the CA said.
SEC investigation showed that the product packages being sold by 1UP Time include health, wellness, skincare and personal care products, priced from P10,000 to P188,000, with promised returns ranging from 25 percent to 35 percent of product discounts, recruitment bonuses and other incentives.
“Since 1UP Time neither obtained a secondary license from the SEC to offer securities nor registered its product packages as securities, its actions were deemed to have operated as a fraud or posed a substantial risk of grave or irreparable harm to investors,” the CA said.
