Offering access to unregistered exchanges to Filipinos is prohibited, according to the Philippine Securities and Exchanges Commission.
The Philippine government issued a warning to domestic investors about utilising unregistered crypto exchanges during the peak of the FTX collapse.
A warning against using unregistered cryptocurrency exchanges that are active in the Philippines was issued by the Securities and Exchanges Commission (SEC). The SEC warned against “the recent failure of a large international cryptocurrency exchange,” without specifically mentioning the FTX exchange.
The government agency reaffirmed that any corporation wishing to conduct business within the nation must register with the SEC, citing local legislation. They penned:
More than 600,000 active corporations are under SEC’s supervision, and it also examines the financial statements (FS) submitted by all businesses registered with it. SEC is the registrar and regulator of the Philippine corporate sector.
The SEC claims that several exchanges are using social media and online ads to specifically target Filipino investors. Additionally, the government body emphasised that the exchanges currently “illegally permit” Filipinos to access their platforms and enable the opening of accounts online. These exchanges “provide various products and schemes which are high-risk and occasionally fraudulent,” according to an SEC report.
