The Philippine Securities and Exchange Commission has suspended for 60 days the certificate of authority of Sumulong Financing Inc., doing business as GoPeso, Fast Peso and Fundly, to operate as a financing company. The SEC’s Financing and Lending Companies Department (FinLend) also directed the firm to stop operating its online lending platform, Fundly, after finding it had proceeded without obtaining approval for an amended business plan. An order dated August 1 found that operating the Fundly platform constituted a violation of SEC Memorandum Circular No. 3, Series of 2022, which requires prior Commission approval before implementing a material change to a financing company’s business plan. FinLend also cited a breach of SEC Memorandum Circular No. 5, Series of 2023 for failing to include the contact information of the provider’s internal complaints handling unit in official communications materials, and imposed a PHP 10,000 penalty.