To All: I was frustrated today and fired off an email to Scott Sitra. He answered me in 24(TWENTY FOUR!)minutes. I since emailed him back with my apologies and continued confidence in BANY.
With his permission, here is the email(s) passed between us this evening:
From: "Dave" <XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX>
To: <bany@sitra.com>
Subject: Anything Internet IPO
Date sent: Wed, 9 Jun 1999 18:04:04 -0400
> Mr. Sitra, why has it taken 7+ months for the Anything Internet IPO to come to fruitition. Please don't give me that Silent period jargon. This IPO has had ample time to begin trading. I am beginning to beleive that there is a sham brewing here.
> Prove me Wrong!
>
> Dave
>
>
*********************************************************************
Dave,
Thank you for your e-mail and your concern is very understanding.
We are, however, in a quiet period. It's not jargon, it's the law. If
we violate the quiet period our filing will be rejected and we will
have to start over with a brand new filing in addition to numerous
potential fines and sanctions. The SEC is very serious about these
matters.
Nevertheless, we filed an application to commence trading on the
OTC BB the last week of December. At that time it was
anticipated it would take three weeks to get listed as a non-reporting
company. Reporting could come later, everyone knows to become a
reporting company is a major undertaking.
On January 1, 1999, the SEC changed all the rules regading going
public. New companies could not go public as non-reporting
companies. They had to be reporting, plus file new forms that were
in the process of being created.
We complied in a very short amount of time (3 weeks) to these new
requirements and have been working with the SEC ever since to get
through their review process.
The reason this process has taken six months is because after every
filing the SEC sits on the filing for several weeks before even looking
at it. They do not respond like we do and focus their attentions on it
immediately. It took them over four weeks to even review the initial
filing. Since then it has taken them 2 - 3 weeks to look at our
answers to their questions and subsequent filings. This is where all
the time is.
This situation is no different for us than any other company. New
companies going public that are non-reporting are doing so through
the use of shells. The use of shells is very dangerous and creates
unforeseen problems for shareholders. Additionally, these shells
must go through the same process we are going through. If they
don't, they will get delisted soon. The SEC predicts it will delist over
4,000 companies over the next 10-12 months for non-compliance.
Additionally, the time frame to comply is only getting worse. The
SEC has a limited staff and the regulations continue to get more
complex. Regulation D was recently gutted which will result in even
more filings being made in the months to come. Many people have
predicted that this time next year it will take a minimum of 12 months
to complete the process we are going through, and that's just at the
very minimum.
I hope this helps answer your questions, but there is nothing of a
shame here. Our filings may be found on the Edgar database. In
the past six months we have filed over 400 pages worth of
documenatation with the SEC.
We realize the investment community thinks these things happen
overnight, but they simply do not. As more companies start
complying with the new laws everyone will come to understand the
effort and time required to get through this process. Right now, as
far as we know, we are one of the first, if not the first, new
company to comply and get this far with the new regulations.
However, we cannot tell you how far we are in the process without
violating the law, and believe me, I wish we could openly discuss it.
If you have any additional questions, please feel free to contact me.
Sincerely,
J. Scott Sitra
Banyan Corporation Investor Relations
sitra.com
jscott@sitra.com
(512) 453-3817
(512) 453-7553 fax
P. O. Box 50404
Austin, Texas 78763
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