The decision of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to reverse its earlier decision that revoked the license and registration of Venture Securities Inc. as broker dealer is viewed by most stockbrokers as a vindication of their profession.
In a chat over lunch, Eagle Securities President Joey Roxas and company consultant Den Somera told BusinessWise that the decision exonerates the industry from malfeasance committed by investors who are in cahoots with some industry employees. These lawbreaking investors engage in creative tactics that deceitfully go under the radar, and often go off the hook, while laughing all the way to the bank. They vanish into thin air, far from the reach of the media and the long arm of the law.
The scam, which the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE) describes as the “worst-ever to hit a brokerage house,” is about two companies: the 50-year-old R&L Investments Inc. and Venture Securities Inc. They were heaved into the duplicitous schemes implemented by R&L employee Marlo Moron, and Venture client Julieto Sulapas. The two contrived to make money out of EQ trades, a platform used for transferring shares between brokerage houses.
This platform allows clients to transfer their shares between brokerage houses where they have existing accounts, provided that the shares to be transferred from one brokerage house to another are under the same name. Moron stole the shares of R&L clients, transferred them to Sulapas who in turn…
