Logo of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)  in this photo taken on June 22, 2023. Jonathan Cellona, ABS-CBN News 

MANILA -- The Securities and Exchange Commission on Thursday said the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) has blocked the websites and app of unlicensed investment platform MiTrade.

In a statement, the SEC noted that they asked the NTC to block MiTrade’s website after it was seen on social media inviting Filipinos to invest and trade using its platforms.

The regulator noted that MiTrade's operator was not registered as a corporation in the Philippines, and operated without the necessary license to sell or offer any form of securities, to engage in the business of buying or selling securities, to operate as a broker or dealer, or to create or operate an exchange in the country.

The SEC said, however, that the operators of MiTrade appeared to be registered brokers and dealers overseas, and the securities and investments being offered likewise appeared to be registered in various countries.

MiTrade offered the trading of financial instruments from a wide range of asset classes such as foreign currency pairs, foreign shares, index funds, and commodity derivatives.

The securities regulator also said salesmen, brokers, dealers, agents, and representatives of MiTrade, as well as those who promote it and recruit investors to the platform, may be held criminally liable under the Securities Regulation Code and penalized with a maximum fine of P5 million and/or imprisonment of up to 21 years.

SEC Chairperson Emilio Aquino said the SEC and NTC will continue to work closely together to take similar actions on other platforms facilitating illegal investment-taking activities and other predatory financial schemes.

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