Lifetime Plans questions revocation order by SEC

Lifetime Plans Inc. questioned yesterday the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) order revoking the certificate of incorporation of the nine month-old pre-need firm, saying it was issued without the benefit of the necessary notice and hearing.

Planholders of Lifetime Plans even described the SEC decision as the "harshest order" ever issued by the corporate regulator.

Lifetime Plans cited Sec. 6 of Presidential Decree 902-A and SEC memorandum circular 04-03 which state that the SEC may "revoke a corporation’s certificate of registration only after proper notice and hearing."

Lifetime Plans has asked the SEC to lift the order within five days from receipt of the decision but the firm’s planholders-agents of the firm want the Commission to lift it as soon as possible to allow them to earn a living and continue doing business.

In a letter to employees and agents, Lifetime Plans chairperson Helen Dee said the company will question the legal basis of the order and the manner in which it was issued.

"We hope that the SEC will have clarity and realize the impact and extent that its order may have upon us and our existing planholders. Rest assured that we will continue to exhaust all our efforts to protect our employees, agents, and planholders," Dee said.

About 30 Lifetime Plans planholder-agents trooped to the SEC yesterday to denounce the SEC order.

"We, members of the sales force of Lifetime Plans, cannot help but be indignant over the decision of the SEC. The revocation order, hastily made without notice or warning, brought shock to the almost 15,000-strong sales force and employees who will be thrown out of jobs as an aftermath of the SEC decision," the Lifetime Plans sales agents said in a manifesto.

"Perhaps unmindful of the broader ill effects of such order, the SEC "mandated by law to safeguard the greater public interest in pre-need plans "has successfully compromised the well being of the more than 400,000 planholders of Lifetime Plans," agents said.

Lifetime Plans’ sales agents said the "SEC, setting aside substantial compliance by Lifetime Plans of its registration requirements, has dealt a fatal blow on the infantile company on ground of mere technicality. Considering that the revocation order came a day after it had complied with the remaining SEC requirements, the regulatory body did not bother to appraise Lifetime PIans of the insufficiency of the submitted documents."

"We appeal to the sense of fairness of the members of the commission. We believe that Lifetime Plans has been denied the constitutionally-guaranteed due process in that it was not given the chance to remedy the "insufficiency"of its compliance with SEC requirements," the Lifetime Plans sales agents said.

Earlier, the SEC cancelled the registration certificate of Lifetime Plans for the company’s failure to submit additional documents necessary to its registration.

SEC commission secretary Gerard Lukban, however, pointed out that the SEC allowed Pacific Plans to spin off its pension, memorial and a portion of its educational plans in August last year to Lifetime Plans subject to a condition that Pacific Plans would show proof that it transferred assets to Lifetime Plans.

Lifetime Plans’ legal counsel stressed that the firm has fully complied within the extended deadline which was even supported by external audit report. "The process of transfer started last year, bank accounts, trust funds accounts, corporate investments, all collections of receivables were already credited to Lifetime including car registrations, contractual agreements."

"It is not true that it failed to comply with the SEC requirements. Contrary to the SEC’s order, it had been complying with the SEC’s directives to present proofs of transfer to Lifetime of the assets conveyed by virtue of the spin-off, " Lifetime Plans said.