The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has ordered Umeta Credit Lending Corp. to stop its unauthorized operation of unrecorded online lending platforms (OLPs)—FinLedger-Smart Ledger, Cash Twig, Meta Cash, and MorePautang-Loan Hub—and for engaging in unfair debt collection practices.

In a cease-and-desist order (CDO) dated Feb. 18, the SEC’s Financing and Lending Companies Department (FLCD) directed Umeta Credit Lending, its owners, incorporators, agents, promoters, and all persons claiming and acting for and on its behalf to immediately stop engaging in, carrying out, promoting, or facilitating any lending activity or transaction, whether directly or indirectly.

The prohibition covers operation and promotion of the four OLPs it controls, and any other platform, application, website, or digital interface operated under other names.

The CDO follows a verification conducted by FLCD, which found that the company is engaged in unauthorized operation of undisclosed OLPs without SEC registration, in violation of SEC Memorandum Circular (MC) No. 19, series of 2019, which requires financing and lending firms to fully disclose and report the OLPs they operate.

The lending firm was also found to have violated SEC MC 10, series of 2021, which imposed a moratorium on new OLPs starting Nov. 5, 2021.

“[Umeta Credit Lending’s] decision to deploy and maintain multiple OLPs, under varying names and digital identities, without proper recording with the commission, constitutes a deliberate circumvention of regulatory safeguards. This is not a case of mere technical lapse or administrative oversight. It is a calculated evasion of supervision,” the CDO read.

In addition, the SEC found that Umeta Credit Lending has been engaged in unfair debt collection practices based on over 300 informal complaints it received against the company from January 2025 to January 2026.

Of these informal complaints, five were escalated into formal administrative proceedings for violation of SEC MC 18, series of 2019, which prohibits unfair debt collection practices by financing and lending companies.

The company also failed to reply to five separate show-cause letters issued by the SEC, which constitutes a “deliberate refusal to engage with lawful authority” and a “blatant disregard of the commission’s supervisory powers.”

“The convergence of the following circumstances: unauthorized operation of multiple OLPs; hundreds of complaints alleging unfair collection practices; and [Umeta Credit Lending’s] repeated refusal to respond to five formal regulatory directives creates a clear and present danger to financial consumers,” the order read.

It added that, “Accordingly, the issuance of a CDO is necessary to immediately halt [Umeta Credit Lending’s] operations and prevent further injury to the borrowing public pending final determination of its administrative liability.”