GOLDXTREME Trading Co. has asked the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to lift its advisory against dealing with the company.
In a statement, Dennis Manalo, the company lawyer, said that no cases have yet been filed against the company and the advisory “has caused a lot of damage to the reputation of Goldxtreme and its traders.”
SEC said in its earlier advisory that it received information Goldextreme is also soliciting money from the public, as much as P5,000 per slot with a promise of a return of investment of almost five times P24,450 net of taxes, upon exit of each slot in the table.
Members are also obligated to recruit two individuals for every slot bought.
SEC said that Goldxtreme may be registered with the agency, but as a partnership with the primary purpose of wholesale and retail sales of gold jewelry and other products, such as fashion accessories, cell phone loans, prepaid cards, among others.
“However, Goldxtreme is not authorized to solicit investments from the public as it did not secure prior registration and/or license to solicit investment from [the SEC],” the agency said.
The agency also advised the public to take necessary precautions on dealing Goldxtreme and its representatives. In his reply, the lawyer said that Goldxtreme’s business model does not involve, and is not dependent on, recruiting investors or soliciting funds from others.
“The be-all and end-all of Goldxtreme’s business is selling gold. Now, in order to assist them in their marketing and sales efforts, the company offers a commission and incentive program for existing clients who refer others to buy gold. It is essentially no different—nor any less legal—than what a lot of multinational health, beauty and home-care products are doing,” he said. Goldxtreme said that it does not make any promises about return on investment, but rather “compensates participants for their hard work and diligence in marketing the product,” he said.
The company calls this selling strategy as gold swap program, and it involves a graduated scale of 15 account slots.