SEC: Over 3,300 complaints received vs unregistered financing entities

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on Monday said it has received 3,315 complaints against unregistered financing entities amid reports of debtors being harassed by debt collectors.

“Of the 3,570 complaints involving unfair debt collection, 3,315 complaints were lodged against unregistered FCs (financial companies), LCs (lending companies), and OLPs (online lending platforms),” SEC Commissioner Regelio Quevedo said in a hearing of the Senate committee on banks, financial institutions, and currencies. 

“The problem is the unrecorded, unregistered online platforms. These are the lending companies that are not registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission,” he added.

From January to September 15, 2025, the SEC has received 3,570 complaints involving unfair debt collection practices.

This makes up 66% of the 5,415 complaints that the government agency filed against financing companies, Quevedo said.

In February, authorities raided an office in Makati City that is suspected to be a hub of several online lending applications that allegedly harass debtors, some who suffered depression as a result of the harassment.

“We found out that mostly these are manned by our kababayans (countrymen) who are doing the spiel of doing the threats,” Quevedo said.

Stricter SIM Registration Act

Quevedo also expressed concern over the number of SIM cards a person can buy as these can be used not just to scam people but harass debtors as well.

He called for amendments to Republic Act 11934 or the SIM Registration Act to prohibit a person from owning five or more SIM cards, or to ask for an explanation why he or she needs that much.

“Magiging kaduda-duda na po pag ang isang tao ay kailangan ang mahigit sa tatlo o limang SIM cards na nakare-register sa pangalan niya,” Quevedo said.

(It would be suspicious if a person needs to have more than three or five SIM cards registered under their name.)

Enacted in 2022, the SIM Registration Act seeks to end crimes like text and online scams by regulating the sale and use of SIMs through mandating registration of end-users.

In January this year, the Philippine National Police Anti-Cybercrime Group seized 7,900 pre-registered SIM cards and arrested 38 illegal sellers of SIM cards. — JMA, GMA Integrated News