SEC issues cease order vs company using ex-name of GCash’s financial arm

Fuse Lending, Inc. allegedly maliciously uses the former corporate name of Fuse Financing, Inc. to operate a lending business without 'necessary license' from the Securities and Exchange Commission

For its shady operations related to lending, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has issued a cease and desist order (CDO) against a lending company that used the former name of GCash’s financial arm.

The SEC, in an order dated July 31, commanded Fuse Lending, Inc., including its owners, operators, agents, and persons acting on their behalf, to stop any lending activity or transaction.

Fuse Lending, Inc., according to the SEC, allegedly maliciously used the former corporate name of Fuse Financing, Inc., GCash’s official financing arm, to operate a lending business without “necessary license” from the body.

It was Fuse Financing, Inc. (formerly Fuse Lending, Inc.) that flagged a suspicious website that allegedly used its former corporate name. The GCash arm said the operation of the alleged fraudulent website poses a risk to the public and threatens Fuse Financing’s legitimate operations.

Based on the SEC Financing and Lending Companies Department’s (FinLend) probe, Fuse Lending was not registered as a corporation, partnership, or one person corporation. It also has not secured a secondary license to operate a lending company from the SEC, according to FinLend’s probe.

“Given [Fuse Lending’s] continued operation of the lending website, the Commission finds [that] the issuance of a [CDO] is necessary not only to penalize the [company] but also to prevent fraud, injury, or harm to the public and financial consumers,” the SEC order read.

Citing Republic Act (RA) No. 9474 or the Lending Company Regulation Act, the SEC said no lending company should operate without registration as a corporation and a valid certificate of authority from the commission.

The SEC added that RA No. 11765 or the Financial Products and Services Consumer Protection Act also authorizes the SEC to enforce actions, like the issuance of a CDO, against companies that violate the law “and may cause grave or irreparable injury, or prejudice to financial consumers.

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