Sen. Sonny Angara said on Tuesday, Aug. 23 during a hybrid committee meeting on cryptocurrencies and other digital currencies, that the government may need to adopt new enforcement tools to fight the increasing number of scams being perpetuated online.
Photo from Senate
Angara made the suggestion as he inquired about government efforts, particularly from the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), regarding the investigation of investment scams using digital platforms.
“I’m just trying to get the grasp on the nature of the new financial frauds because a cease-and-desist order is a tool used in actual physical investigations… you can actually physically monitor compliance but in terms of digital fraud, the nature of the ‘beast’ or the nature of what you’re regulating is already kind of beyond your physical… and potentially it’s millions or even billions of people getting defrauded,” Angara said.
SEC officials who virtually attended the hearing told Angara the SEC is presently relying on the Securities Regulation Code which provides that no securities will be offered within the Philippines unless registered with the SEC and that the commission issues cease and desist order as well as advisories for purposes of raising the red flag on accounts that are in their respective inbox.
