The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has ordered UPSYS Daily Trading to stop soliciting investments from the public without the necessary license from the government. In a cease and desist order, the Commission En Banc directed the company, which also operates as UPSYS Daily Trding Management OPC and UPSYS Daily Trding Management Consultancy, to immediately stop from further engaging in the unlawful solicitation, offer, or sale of securities in the form of investment contracts. The SEC also prohibited the company from transacting any business involving funds in its depository banks, and from transferring, disposing, or conveying any related assets to ensure the preservation of the assets of its investors. The order covers its single stockholder, director, and president Mark Uy Contreras, registered owner and agent John Rey Baldenas Villarino, nominee Michael Reyes Puente, and alternate nominee June Mendoza Samson. It also covers all of the firm’s officers, operators, administrators, promoters, representatives, salesmen, agents, investment team planners, mentors, enablers, influencers, assigns, conduit entities, and subsidiaries. The order was issued after the SEC Enforcement and Investor Protection Department found the company to be offering investment packages worth P500 to P150,000, in exchange for daily returns ranging from 2 percent to 4 percent. After three months, investors stand to earn returns from P900 to P540,000, depending on the package availed. In addition to the guaranteed returns, an investor will also earn a 50 percent direct referral bonus for recruiting members, plus commissions on referrals made by their respective recruits. The scheme involves the sale and offer of securities to the public in the form of investment contracts, whereby a person invests his money in a common enterprise and is led to expect profits primarily from the efforts of others, according to the SEC. The Securities Regulation Code (SRC) provides that securities shall not be sold or offered for sale or distribution within the Philippines, without a registration statement duly filed with and approved by the SEC. “[T]he Commission also finds that the unauthorized investment scheme of the UPSYS Group is a Ponzi scheme which is likewise proscribed by law as the same constitutes fraud upon the investing public,” the order read. UPSYS Group is registered as a one-person corporation with the SEC, but has never secured a secondary license as issuer of securities or broker dealer nor registered any securities for public offering pursuant to the SRC. The SEC has issued an advisory warning the public not to invest in UPSYS Group, and to exercise caution in dealing with its founder and CEO John Villarino as early as January 26, 2023.