MFT Group of Companies, a private equity firm led by young entrepreneur Mica Tan, said Friday it will seek clarification from the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on the cease-and-desist order it issued against the company.
MFT Group said in a statement that while it had not yet received the official order from the SEC, it is confident that it would be able to address all concerns raised by the corporate regulator.
“We acknowledge the recent release of a cease-and-desist order by the Securities and Exchange Commission. While we have not yet officially received the complaint or the order itself, we are actively seeking clarification and information from the SEC,” MFT Group said.
“MFT Group takes all regulatory matters seriously and is committed to upholding the highest standards of legal and ethical conduct. We are confident that once we have reviewed the specifics of the SEC concerns, we will be able to address them promptly and responsibly,” it said.
The SEC, in an order dated Jan. 16, directed MFT Group to stop its allegedly unauthorized solicitation activities.
The SEC said that based on its investigation, the company was offering and selling unregistered securities in the form of investment contracts to the public in the guise of borrower-lender agreements in the form of memorandums of agreement that would later be transformed into promissory notes.
It also said that based on the complaints received and the independent investigation conducted by the SEC, the MFT Group organized public events where it solicited investments supposedly for start-up companies in exchange for a guaranteed return ranging from 12 percent to 18 percent per annum. MFT Group reportedly issued post-dated checks, but the amounts indicated in the checks would not be paid.
The SEC said MFT Group deliberately used the term, “interest income,” to give semblance of legitimacy to the transactions, which the group packaged as loans.
It said while MFT Group is an SEC-registered corporation, it had not secured the required secondary license in the form of an approved registration statement and a permit to sell securities to the public as required under the Securities Regulation Code.
MFT Group, in its website, claims that it primarily invests in real estate, healthcare, food and beverage, financial services and others. It reported that in 2018, it had P3.2 billion in assets under its portfolio.