Posts filed under 'Compliance'
December 3rd, 2007
Shares Magazine recently published an update. See:
http://www.sharesdigital.com/node/1965
Smartlogik appeal goes online
Published date:
Thursday, November 1, 2007
Private investors of failed software company SmartLogik can now chat
freely on a new bulletin board. The board has just been set up by the
SmartLogik Action Group and hopes to bring together thousands of
private investors burnt by the company’s collapse.
In 2002, the FSA granted the directors of main-board quoted SmartLogik
a waiver to sell the company’s assets – which included intellectual
property rights for an information retrieval programme – to Applied
Psychology Research without first getting approval at an EGM.
However, the City watchdog has refused a request from the SmartLogik
Action Group to see submissions from SmartLogik and minutes of
meetings about the waiver. The group believes the minutes will include
a valuation showing the £1.8 million that Applied paid for the assets
was too low and gives them the basis to launch a compensation claim.
To join the bulletin board go to: http://slk-action-group.com/members/
Other stories from : Investor’s Champion
December 1st, 2007
A member recently posted some very good suggestions at the Action Group discussion forum. The post is shown below. If you want to respond, please do so at the discussion forum (http://slk-action-group.com/members/). There you can register and contribute any ideas you may have.
“One very important aspect of these cases is indeed to look at the rules, and processes. This is a key aspect that shareholder action groups need to address, if we are going to move things forward for future generations of shareholders……improving the `framework & regulatory rules`..
Many believe our regulatory system is a shambles, particularly withregard to treatment of shareholders/stakeholders. One case that has highlighted this is the current Northern Rock debacle. You`ll notice that the UK Shareholders Association have made vigourous
public efforts to get the interests of shareholders looked after…..TV appearances, and meetings with shareholders…
You`ll see that the `authorities` have come under very strong criticism over this case.
You`ll see that various Commons Select Committee enquiries have occurred.
You`ll see that much TV/Media coverage has happened. Questions have been asked in `the house`, at PM level…..
You`ll have heard about various shareholder initiatives and meetings have occurred, and two of the key issues are about `not selling the company assets off on the cheap..and also, the shareholders are pressing for more influence in the sale process, to try to ensure the best value for all parties..
Clearly consideration is being given to jobs, and the future of the business. ..its all part of the pressure being applied to try to get an equitable solution.
This is a sea change in the way such debacles are handled…pressure from all sides is being exerted, to try to avoid the usual `hastely arranged, behind the scenes` firesale…at knock down prices….which so often happens…quite outrageously.
This is why its so important that cases like this are given maximum exposure…not least, in political circles.
Unfortunately, far too many people join up and then just sit and watch…..action groups are all about ACTION. Sitting there like cans of milk on a self will achieve nothing…..stakeholder members must take action.
Should we examine the accounts of APR, before and after the transfer, to see how asset valuations could have significantly changed..supporting the claim that assets have been sold off very cheaply…
One action all members could take would be to send a letter to there local MP, expressing concerns about the case. MP are legally bound to respond to such enquiries. I have done this previously, and had some help…..in a different case. And dont forget to follow up on points where you`d like further explainations.
It might help to write also to senior MPs like Dr Vince Cable… Lib Dem MP, and very pro-active on such issues.
A note to the Tory party…..David Cameron, etc…might also be a good idea for the group.
Justin you might like to draft a letter to these senior people, outlining this case, and the main concerns…..and perhaps asking what is being done to protect shareholder interests in such cases…it appearing easy for company executives to do what they like to avoid any kind of meaningful accountability, when it suites them.
It is possible to raise a petition on the web site of 10 Downing St..complainig about what has happened and demanding action…have we done this…”
October 25th, 2007
Following a recent request, a discussion forum has been set up and can be accessed from the main website menu.
To join go to:
http://www.slk-action-group.com/members/
Otherwise, it can be accessed from the main website menu (click on
‘Discussion Forum’) at:
http://www.slk-action-group.com
When at the forum page, click ‘Register’ to become a member, read and
make posts.
SmartLogik Action Group
April 6th, 2007
BRITS GET BIT (New York Post)
LAX BRITISH MARTS ATTRACT FRAUDS ALONG WITH U.S. BIZ
By PAUL THARP
January 8, 2007 — London is paying a steep price for poaching a slew of new stock listings from Wall Street last year -financial fraud in the United Kingdom rose 40 percent.
A report says British authorities are aghast at the skyrocketing of business fraud in the U.K., ranging from stock swindles to accounting hijinks such as rigging profits and asset values.
The report by accounting firm BDO Stoy Hayward stopped short of blaming the crime wave on the influx of tiny American startup companies and their entourages, who’ve fled the stricter U.S. stock exchanges in New York to London, where lately it’s easier to list shares and get investors’ cash.
By going public on the London Stock Exchange under its CEO, Clara Furse, or its sister London AIM (Alternative Investment Market), a startup company has fewer regulatory and auditing requirements than if they listed on a U.S. exchange - a fact that’s aggravated the New York Stock Exchange and the Nasdaq, cost them listings and raised outcries here by leading politicians.
………
The accounting study said rising financial crimes cost British businesses more than $2.7 billion. Losses could be higher because the report included only frauds that exceeded $100,000 in losses. A flood of financial collapses of new companies also could be ahead.
Experts said London’s exchanges also accepted scores of new listings of Chinese and Russian companies that may not have met New York exchanges’ stricter rules.
BDO Stoy Hayward Report on Fraud in the UK
April 6th, 2007
US class action star targets UK (The Sunday Times)
Big business beware: litigation supremo Michael Hausfeld is setting up shop in Britain and he’s in the mood for a good fight. By Holly Watt
IN American corporate boardrooms, the mere mention of the name Michael Hausfeld is enough to spread panic among directors and investors.
He is one of the country’s top litigators who has won billions in compensation for everyone from Holocaust victims to Alaskan fishermen and consumers ripped off by Microsoft. This month Hausfeld is opening a London office and is preparing an aggressive assault on British companies. In an exclusive interview with The Sunday Times this weekend, he said that there “are laws [in Britain] and they’re not being enforcedâ€.
From the new London office, the firm will take on a wide range of cases across the corporate spectrum. He reels them off: “We’re looking at competition, cartel enforcement, human rights, employment, investor rights and environmental issues.â€
Further references relevant to this post:
Cohen Milstein is First U.S. Plaintiffs’ Law Firm to Open Office in Europe
A Wary Europe Moves a Step Closer to Class Actions
Cohen Milstein is moving to London!
London: ‘lawsuit laboratory’
March 23rd, 2007
Investor Advocates Reject Relaxing Rules (AP via Yahoo! Finance)
Investor Advocates Challenge View That Overly Tough Regulations Hamper U.S. Competitiveness
WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. companies and Wall Street are off-base in blaming an overly regulated and litigious environment for what they say is a struggle to remain competitive, argued panelists at a symposium Thursday sponsored by state securities regulators.
“I’d squeeze the man’s picture off of a dollar bill before I’d let it go” back into stock investing, said Texan panelist Charles Prestwood, 68. He worked for 30 years as a natural gas pipeline operator and the value of his retirement portfolio invested in Enron Corp. stock plunged to $8,000 from $1.3 million after the company’s December 2001 bankruptcy amid a corporate fraud scandal.
March 19th, 2007
Why are the SmartLogik shareholders aggrieved?
Not allowed to vote on the sale of the company assets (waiver).
Company assets were sold at less than their true worth.
No published financial accounts despite being promised them. What happened to our money?
Waiver enabled SmartLogik to avoid publishing the accounts by just one day!
Promised earn out came to nothing.
No accountability.
Failure of Corporate Governance.
This for a company, SmartLogik Group PLC that was fully listed on the London and NASDAQ stock exchanges.
SMARTLOGIK ACTION GROUP - FIGHTING FOR ACCOUNTABILITY, THE RIGHT TO VOTE, FINANCIAL VISIBILITY, GOOD CORPORATE GOVERNANCE, SHAREHOLDER RIGHTS.
YOUR OTHER SHAREHOLDING, PENSION OR JOB COULD BE NEXT. SUPPORT US TODAY!
WWW.SLK-ACTION-GROUP.COM
January 12th, 2007
A Bigger Voice For Small Investors (Business Week)
The very rich, F. Scott Fitzgerald once observed, “are different from you and me.” That has applied even to shareholder activism, a niche of the investing world dominated by hedge fund managers who are paid enormous fees to holler and claw for every last nickel of return on behalf of their wealthy clients.
But with corporations under mounting pressure to acknowledge shareholder rights, ordinary mutual fund managers are increasingly asserting themselves on behalf of smaller investors.
January 10th, 2007
To view the presentation given at the Sustainable Finance Summit, please click the following link:
‘Experiences of a Shareholder Action Group’
As the title suggests, it explains the experiences of a shareholder action group from the point-of-view of the SmartLogik Action Group. The Sustainable Finance Summit was held at the Regents Park Marriott, London on 28-29 November 2006. It was organised by the Ethical Corporation and sponsored by Barclays and others.
It provides useful background to the psychology of how we react when we are treated unfairly, in this case by the stock market. It makes it clear that Action Groups are about real people who have been moved to act by real injustice. The authorities want these sorts of things to go away, but they won’t because of the psychology and the depth of feeling they engender. Certainly, the SmartLogik one will not be going away!!!
October 16th, 2006
Nominee shareholders in the UK to be enfranchised at last!
Click on the above link to read the latest announcement from the UK Shareholders’ Association regarding the voting rights of nominee shareholders in the UK. This has been a long campaign, but we are almost there. Thanks to everyone who has contributed to fighting for shareholder rights in the UK!
We are still fighting for the right of accountability for the shareholders of the former SmartLogik Group PLC, cast aside without being allowed to vote in an EGM over the sale of the core assets of the company and, this was just one day before they would have had to publish audited accounts. There was and still is a complete lack of financial accountability over the SmartLogik business; shareholder funds have disappeared without any proper explanation to the investors who owned the company.
Please continue to support the SmartLogik Action Group in this fight for justice and the recovery of the shareholders’ funds.
Justin Jones
For SmartLogik Action Group
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