Pancake King Token

October 12, 2021 ENFORCEMENT AND INVESTOR PROTECTION DEPARTMENT SEC ADVISORY Based on information gathered by the Commission, the entity operating under the name PANCAKE KING TOKEN by JOHN PE BENITO and KATH BUENDIA is soliciting investments in the Philippines WITHOUT THE NECESSARY LICENSE AND/OR AUTHORITY from the Commission. PANCAKE KING TOKEN claims that it is an experimental and the first decentralized Philippine-based community hybrid meme token that is instituted on the Binance Smart Chain. Supposedly, for a minimum investment of Php500.00 and for a fee, PANCAKE KING TOKEN promises limitless earning potential just by HODLing or "Holding on for dear life" of its token which seems to be "too good to be true" and is an indication of a possible Ponzi Scheme where returns to early investors are likely to be paid out from the investments of new investors and not out of the company's profits similar to those already flagged by the Commission as scams . In fact, as specified by PANCAKE KING TOKEN , the 7% fee it imposes for each transaction or purchase of its token shall be allocated accordingly to its liquidity pool and marketing and development including charity purposes while the rest shall be reflected back to the HODLers or Holders as income. Basically, PANCAKE KING TOKEN gathers money from the public to fund its supposed project through Initial Coin Offering (ICO) on the promise of profits. The SEC Advisory on Initial Coin Offerings and Virtual Currency posted 08 January 2018 provides that an ICO is the first sale and issuance of a new virtual currency to the public usually for the purpose of raising capital for start-up companies or funding independent projects. Depending on the facts and circumstances surrounding their issuance, some of these new virtual currencies follow the nature of a security as defined by Section 3.1 of the Securities Regulation Code (SRC) similar to what is being offered by PANCAKE KING TOKEN whereby a person invests money in a common enterprise and is led to expect profits primarily from the efforts of others. Since what is being offered by PANCAKE KING TOKEN are securities, Section 8 of the SRC requires that all offers and sales of said securities must be duly registered with the Commission and that PANCAKE KING TOKEN and/or its agents must have appropriate registration and/or license to offer and/or sell such securities to the public. However, based on our records, PANCAKE KING TOKEN is NOT REGISTERED with the Commission and is NOT AUTHORIZED to solicit, accept or take investments/placements from the public nor to issue investment contracts and other forms of securities defined under Section 3 of the SRC in the Philippines . Our database also shows that PANCAKE KING TOKEN has no brokers, account managers, agents, and/or representative that have appropriate registration and/or license to offer or sell such securities to the public . PANCAKE KING TOKEN is NEITHER REGISTERED as a Virtual Asset Service Provider (VASP) with the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) and DOES NOT HAVE A CORRESPONDING CERTIFICATE OF AUTHORITY as a Money Service Business (MSB) required under the Guidelines for Virtual Asset Service Providers (BSP Circular No. 1108, Series of 2021) . Likewise, its name DOES NOT APPEAR among those listed as registered Money Service Business (MSBs) as of January 2021 with the Anti-Money Laundering Council under the Anti-Money Laundering Act . Further, we noticed that PANCAKE KING TOKEN has yet to provide the necessary White Paper for its purported token despite being already offered for sale publicly which makes it appear more dubious. Essentially, the so-called White Paper is the foundation or the basis of every legitimate cryptocurrency projects that contains its fundamental purpose, vision, mission and story or creation timeline. Hence, it must be emphasized that such offering and sale of securities in the form of investment contracts using the "Ponzi Scheme" is fraudulent and unsustainable and is NOT a registrable security . The Commission will NOT ISSUE a License to Sell Securities to the Public to persons or entities that are engaged in this business or scheme . The public is reminded that unregistered and/or unauthorized platforms like the PANCAKE KING TOKEN 's are risky as well and should be avoided accordingly. Therefore, the public is advised NOT TO INVEST or STOP INVESTING on PANCAKE KING TOKEN and/or in any other scheme being offered by it no matter how enticing, trendy, or catchy its slogan, proposition, and/or scheme. The Commission warns all unscrupulous individuals and/or entities that strict penalties are imposed for violations of the Securities Regulation Code, the Revised Corporation Code, and such other rules and regulations enforced by the SEC . Those who act as salesmen, brokers, dealers or agents of unauthorized entities in selling or convincing people to invest in their investment scheme offered including solicitations and recruitment through the internet , may likewise be criminally prosecuted and penalized with a maximum fine of Five Million pesos (P5,000,000.00) or a penalty of Twenty-one (21) years of imprisonment or both pursuant to Sections 28 and 73 of the SRC. Similarly, those who invite or recruit others to join or invest in such venture or offer investment contracts or securities to the public may incur criminal liability, or otherwise be sanctioned or penalized accordingly as held by the Supreme Court in the case of SEC vs. Oudine Santos (G.R. No. 195542, 19 March 2014). The names of all those involved will also be reported to the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) so that the appropriate penalties and/or taxes be assessed correspondingly. Should you have any information regarding any investment solicitation activity by any individual or group of individuals representing PANCAKE KING TOKEN , please send your report to the EIPD at [emailprotected] . For the guidance of the public. Pasay City, October 12, 2021.