Troubled A.C.L.N. Most Popular Stock On Pink Sheets
2002-04-02 16:17 (New York)
By Pat Maio
Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES
LOS ANGELES (Dow Jones)--Shipping firm A.C.L.N. Ltd. (ASW ACLNF), which
recently had trading in its shares halted by regulators because of questions
about the accuracy of several company claims, is listed as the No. 1 requested
quote on Pink Sheets LLC.
The beleaguered company had more requests for quotes on Tuesday than even
energy behemoth Enron Corp. (ENRNQ), which filed for bankruptcy protection
late last year, according to Cromwell Coulson, chairman and chief executive of
Pink Sheets.
Pink Sheets provides pricing and financial information for the
over-the-counter securities markets.
Recent quotes on Tuesday, which was the first day in which market makers
could get a quote on A.C.L.N., revealed a trading range between 40 cents a
share and $2, according to Coulsen.
He cited three broker-dealers - Ladenburg Thalman & Co. Inc., Knight Trading
Group Inc. and Herzog Heine Geduld, a Merrill Lynch Co. - as taking unsolicited
customer orders. "They are receiving unsolicited orders from people who want
to sell or buy," Coulsen said. "They are the only ones displaying unsolicited
customer orders in the Pink Sheets," he added.
The actual quotes on the stock aren't published publicly in Pink Sheet's
transparent market because of a Securities and Exchange Commission rule,
15c2-11, which prohibits it and other market makers from doing so when there
are regulatory questions over the accuracy of a company's financial
information, according to regulatory sources. The new stock symbol for the
company on the Pink Sheets is "ACLNF."
A.C.L.N.'s stock closed at $8.35 a share on March 15, the last day A.C.L.N.
traded on the New York Stock Exchange.
On March 18, the NYSE suspended trading of A.C.L.N. shares, and sought to
delist the stock until April 2. The Belgium-based automobile and truck shipping
company did not appeal the delisting, said an NYSE spokeswoman in response to a
Dow Jones Newswires query.
The NYSE sought to delist the stock after the SEC earlier that day suspended
trading in the company's shares - the first time in almost 27 years that the
SEC has suspended an NYSE stock prior to delisting.
In January, the SEC requested that A.C.L.N. provide information about
disclosures that the company made in regulatory filings in the past. The
company has declined to discuss the probe, other than Aldo Labiad, the
company's chief executive, announcing in January that all of A.C.L.N.'s "SEC
filings are accurate in all material respects."
The SEC cited "public interest" related to concerns about the "adequacy and
accuracy" of the company's publicly disseminated information. In recent weeks,
three directors have resigned from the company, as well as the chief financial
officer and director of investor relations.
-By Pat Maio, Dow Jones Newswires; 323-658-3776; patrick.maio@dowjones.com
(END) DOW JONES NEWS 04-02-02
04:17 PM- - 04 17 PM EST 04-02-02 |
