CAP airs concern over SEC’s takeover plan

College Assurance Plan Phils. Inc. (CAP) has expressed concern over a plan by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to take over the pre-need firm, saying such move could result in its extinction, leaving thousands of investors holding the proverbial empty bag.

A top official of CAP, who requested not to be named, questioned the SEC’s plan to take management control of the cash-strapped pre-need firm, pointing out that this would just aggravate the problems that CAP is facing now.

"I don’t think this is the solution to our problem. It will really help the planholders such as when the SEC can produce investors or turn it around. But it looks like they will liquidate not rehabilitate. This is certainly going to be bad for planholders. When did government become successful in protecting assets?," the CAP official said.

"Will the mancom of the SEC be financially responsible for any losses incurred during their "reign"? Or will they have the privilege of managing and yet not be held accountable for their failures – which would be unfair to the planholders, who the SEC said they want to protect? In this case, the planholders will now have to go to the SEC and its mancom, knock on their doors to get their payments. The mancom of the SEC will now have to answer to the planholders of CAP," the same official said.

An SEC official had said that the agency might be left with no other choice but to oversee the operations of CAP and ensure the orderly dissolution of the firm’s assets given its huge trust fund deficiency and failure to infuse new capital.

"We’re starting to lose hope for CAP. Their problem dates back to 2001 or 2002. Despite the time we have given them, they have yet to make good the promises they made to us like building up their trust fund. Their trust fund is shrinking and no new funds are coming in," the SEC official said.

The SEC official also noted that the assets of CAP are mostly made up of real estate properties that have yet to be developed.

The CAP official, however, said that the pre-need firm is not running away from its problems and remains committed to serving the obligations of thousands of its planholders. He said CAP director Robert John Sobrepena is now abroad working on securing fresh capital from a foundation based in Switzerland.

The official refused to name the foundation but said that it was related to International Global Holdings Inc. "Bob is in Europe overseeing the entry of investments from a foundation not requiring CAP’s dealership license but only saw the need to help planholders since the government is not helping," the official said.