Suspension of Certificate of Registration of Permanent Plans, Inc.

April 20, 2009SEC PRE-NEED ORDER NO. 029-09IN THE MATTER OF SUSPENSION OF CERTIFICATE OF REGISTRATION OF PERMANENT PLANS, INC. AS DEALER OF PRE-NEED LIFE AND PENSION PLANSO R D E ROn 25 November 2008, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) renewed the Dealer's License of Permanent Plans, Inc. under SEC Pre-Need Order No. 251, series of 2008. On 16 March 2009, the Non-Traditional Securities and Instruments Department of the SEC started to receive complaints from several planholders of Permanent Plans, Inc. that the company proposed an alternative mode of settlement of their pre-need benefits by way of payment in cash and dacion en pago.Under Rules 12.1 and 12.6 of the New Rules on the Registration and Sale of Pre-need Plans (Pre-Need Rules), "no pre-need contract, . . . shall be amended or modified without prior approval of the Commission and such amendment or modification shall neither affect adversely the Planholders thereof nor impair any term or condition in the pre-need plan or other related documents" and any amendment which involves a change in benefits or...