SEC revokes KingABC license over unfair debt collection practices

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) revoked the license of KingABC Lending Corp. after the firm was found to have committed unfair debt collection practices such as threatening to shame borrowers on social media.

In a statement on Sunday, the SEC said its Corporate Governance and Finance Department (CGFD) found KingABC to have committed 15 violations of the Unfair Debt Collection Practices of Financing Companies and Lending Companies.

KingABC reportedly threatened to publish borrowers' names online as scammers, and contacting their contact list despite not being named as co-makers or guarantors.

The company was also said to have used obscenities, insults, or profane language during collections, threatening to sue borrowers on a made-up legal basis.

The revocation of its Certification of Authority (CA) was ordered on June 7. It was previously penalized for first and second violations of the unfair debt collection practices.

“It is likewise clear that at this point, the revocation of Respondent’s CA is not merely appropriate, but rather necessitated by the gravity and number of its offenses,” the CGFD said.

Based on the SEC’s list of lending companies with a CA, KingABC offered interest rates of 0.5% to 1.00% per day.

Aside from the 15 violations found, the SEC said 53 more complaints have been lodged against the firm for the same issues as of the date of the order.

“Even more telling is the fact that subsequent to the issuance of the Formal Charge, the abusive collection practice of the respondent only became worse and more hostile based on the evidence submitted by the complainants,” the SEC said.

“The Department noted messages filled with death threats, profanities, and other obnoxious and reprehensible language,” it added.

Including the revocation of KingABC’s CA, the corporate regulator has canceled the licenses of 35 financing and lending companies due to the various violations of its rules and regulations.

The SEC has also revoked the primary registration of some 2,081 lending companies for their failure to secure the necessary CA. Some 58 online lending companies have also been ordered to shut down for lack of authority.

Contact details for KingABC were not available online. GMA News Online is still in the process of reaching out to the firm for comment. — DVM, GMA News