SEC stops lending activities of Umeta Credit Lending Corp.

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has issued a cease and desist order (CDO) against Umeta Credit Lending Corp. for its unauthorized operation of unrecorded online lending platforms (OLPs), namely FinLedger – Smart Ledger, Cash Twig, Meta Cash, and MorePautang – Loan Hub, and for engaging in unfair debt collection practices.

In an order dated February 18, the SEC 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, carrying out, promoting, or facilitating, in any lending activity or transaction, whether directly or indirectly.

The prohibition covers the operation and promotion of the OLPs it controls, such as Meta Cash, MorePautang – Loan Hub, Cash Twig, FinLedger - Smart Ledger, and any other platform, application, website, or digital interface operated under other names.

The order follows a verification conducted by the FLCD, which found that the company is engaged in the unauthorized operations of undisclosed OLPs with the SEC, in violation of SEC Memorandum Circular 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 No. 10, Series of 2021, which imposed a moratorium on new OLPs starting November 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 order 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 has 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 No. 18, Series of 2019, which prohibits unfair debt collection practices of financing and lending companies.

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

“The convergence of the following circumstances: (a) unauthorized operation of multiple OLPs; (b) hundreds of complaints alleging unfair collection practices; and (c) the [company’s] repeated refusal to respond to five formal regulatory directives creates a clear and present danger to financial consumers,” the order read.
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“Accordingly, the issuance of a CDO is necessary to immediately halt the [Umeta Credit Lending’s] operations and prevent further injury to the borrowing public pending final determination of its administrative liability,” it added.