No SEC cease order vs gold trading firm, says lawyer

The Gold trading company GoldXtreme is not included in the Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) cease and desist order list of firms offering investment-type products without proper authorization, according to the company’s lawyer.

“There are currently 73 companies included in the list, and I can assure you with 100 percent certainty that GoldXtreme is not one of them,” company counsel Dennis Manalo said in a statement.

“The SEC’s CDO list a publicly-viewable file that is clearly posted on its website. Anyone can log on and check it out.” Manalo said GoldXtreme actually supported the SEC crackdown on unethical and unlawful companies. “The company’s goal is to give hardworking Filipinos a chance to augment their income legally, by becoming gold traders,” he added.

“(GoldXtreme) is duly registered with the SEC as a gold trading company, and has remitted Value Added Tax (VAT) to the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) amounting to almost P44 million for the second quarter of 2015,” the lawyer said.

Earlier media reports that GoldXtreme had been ordered closed “were completely and absolutely untrue, as the company continues to operate, trade, provide employment, and remit money to the government,” he added.

In an earlier advisory, the SEC said it had received reports that GoldXtreme was soliciting investments from the public, with the promise of guaranteed returns. But Manalo said this was not in accordance with the company’s business model and practice, and that GoldXtreme itself would sanction traders who gave this impression.

“Once again, GoldXtreme’s only business is to sell gold. It just so happens that the (company) offers a commission and incentive program to existing clients who refer others to buy gold,” the lawyer said. “Furthermore, the money one makes from GoldXtreme is not due to passive investing. It entails hard work and referring other customers to buy from the company.”