SEC shoots down AIQuest Trading’s offering

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has ordered AIQuest Trading and its operator to immediately stop soliciting investments from the public, escalating its action against the entity over an alleged unregistered securities offering.

The SEC’s Enforcement and Investor Protection Department (EIPD) issued a cease and desist order against AIQuest Trading, Erica Aguilar and their agents after finding prima facie evidence of ongoing violations of the Securities Regulation Code.

The order covers the entity’s officers, representatives, salesmen, agents, operators, enablers, influencers and other persons or entities acting on its behalf.

AIQuest Trading allegedly solicited investments through social media and its website for what it described as “AI-assisted stock trading.”

Its three investment plans promised guaranteed returns ranging from 30 percent within seven days to as much as 150 percent within 30 days.

Investments could range from P500 to as much as P1 million, depending on the plan.

But certifications obtained by the EIPD showed AIQuest Trading was not registered with the SEC as either a corporation or partnership.

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The group had also not registered any securities, applied for a license to sell securities or secured such a license from the corporate regulator.

The EIPD found reasonable grounds to believe that the scheme constituted the offer and sale of unregistered securities in the form of an “investment contract.”

The EIPD said investors placed money into a common enterprise with the expectation of guaranteed profits derived primarily from the efforts of others.