This has reference to Securities and Exchange Commission’s  (SEC) authority or power to suspend, or revoke, after proper notice and hearing, the franchise or certificate of registration of corporations, partnerships or associations upon any of the grounds provided by law. (See: Section5 (m) of the Securities Regulation Code of 2000 (SRC.)

Pursuant to existing rules, one finds the grounds for revoking  or suspending the certificate of registration of a company, after proper notice and hearing by the Commission particularly in Section 6 (l) of Presidential Decree No. 902-A, as amended. The most common of which are fraud in procuring the certificate of registration of a company and the failure to file the required reports in appropriate forms as determined by the Commission within the prescribed period. Other legal grounds for revocation of corporate franchise are serious misrepresentation as to what the corporation can do to the prejudice of the general public, refusal to comply with any lawful order of the SEC, continuous inoperation for a period of at least five (5) years and failure to file by- laws, within the required period set bylaw, which is within thirty (30) days from the approval of the articles of incorporation by the SEC.

The fraud mentioned above as one of the grounds for revocation of a certificate of registration refers to fraud attendant in the registration of the corporation, partnership or association and the same must be contained or connected with the documents presented to the Commission. Also, fraud from the legal point of view is deceptive practice to induce another to part with his property or surrender some legal rights to accomplish the end desired. As commonly used, the word implies deceit, deception, artifice or trickery. Misrepresentation, on the other hand, is a representation, which is not true, a false representation. ([SEC Case 3628.  February 7, 1991.] Gregorio Fule, complainant, vs. Onapal Phil., Commodities Inc., et al., respondents.)

In a specific SEC case, it was ruled that “the misrepresentations committed by a corporation and its responsible founders, officers and trustees are reprehensible indeed, but what is more abominable is that its modus operandi of target as quarry the poor and marginalized of our countrymen, giving millions of them false and unattainable hopes of instant fortune in exchange for a seemingly paltry amount. Moreover, considering the number of people that had been victimized by the scheming of the people involved, the great extent of the effect of the serious misrepresentation cannot be diminished. This monstrous chicanery reflects on the moral depravity of the people behind the erring company and those perpetrating this debauched modus operandi, and to allow this organized scam to persist would be an offense of the government to its people as it is tantamount to suffering a disease pervade the body of our society.” [SEC Administrative Case 08-99-0005.  April 13, 2000.] In the Matter of Diamond Star Global Foundation Inc.)

Accordingly, such acts of the officers and trustees of the subject corporation constitutes serious misrepresentation as to what the corporation can do or is doing to the damage and prejudice of the public, in direct violation of the rule of law.

As stated above the procedure requires that suspension, cancellation or revocation of corporate franchise or registration can only be effected by the SEC on grounds provided by law and only after proper notice and hearing. Hearing on suspension, the body shall conduct cancellation or revocation of corporate franchise or registration, board, committee or officer as may be created or designated by the Commission for the purpose. (SEC Opinion dated 6-6-1994). The SEC has its own internal rules as approved in December 2006.

With reference to a refusal to comply or defiance against any lawful order of the SEC restraining acts amounting to grave violation of corporation’s franchise is as follows: A situation where it can be gleaned or would show that incorporators or officers of a corporation unjustifiably refused to obey a Commission directive despite the passage of more than sufficient time to do so. Such patent failure would leave the Commission no recourse but to impose the appropriate sanction of revocation of certificate of registration. (Ibid.)

SM Investments Corp., a listed holding company led by shopping mall magnate Henry Sy Sr., has tapped European hotel operator Accor to run its P2.8-billion hotel in Mactan, Cebu.

Pay gap between clerks and managers in Asia widens

RESEARCH by a management consultancy group shows that clerical workers, or more commonly “white-collar” workers, do not seem to benefit from pay increases compared to senior managers, especially in Asian countries whose economies are booming.

LEGACY Ventures Realty and Development Inc. is investing about P1.35 billion for its first real-estate project in the Manila Bay area.

The project offers bold guarantees for delays in the turnover of units and depreciation of the property.

This has reference to Securities and Exchange Commission’s  (SEC) authority or power to suspend, or revoke, after proper notice and hearing, the franchise or certificate of registration of corporations, partnerships or associations upon any of the grounds provided by law. (See: Section5 (m) of the Securities Regulation Code of 2000 (SRC.)