To: Mary Baker who wrote (3874 ) 7/4/1999 10:12:00 PM From: Mary Baker Respond to of 4824
I noticed my link to Bloomberg in a previous post does not work...so I have posted the article about ABFG being delisted soon...tis the fate of the alphabet and not having paperwork ready on time... Hopefully JNNE can avoid the same fate! -------------------------------------------------------- New York, July 2 (Bloomberg) -- American Benefits Group Inc. and more than 50 other small companies whose ticker symbols start with the letter A disappear from the Over-the-Counter Bulletin Board today, after the Internet retailer lost a court bid to block its ejection from the stock-quote service. U.S. District Judge John Koeltl in Manhattan yesterday denied American Benefits' request for a temporary restraining order against the National Association of Securities Dealers, which runs the bulletin board, and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, American Benefits' lawyer Kenneth McCallion said. The company is among the first to be removed from the OTC Bulletin Board as new rules take effect requiring its companies to file public financial reports. The rules are to be phased in during the next 12 months, in an alphabetical process according to the first letter of a company's ticker symbol. The first 54 companies, removed starting today for failing to meet the new standard, are those with tickers that start with the letters A to AD. American Benefits sued the NASD and SEC on Wednesday, contending it isn't fair to base a company's continued presence on the bulletin board according to an alphabetical schedule. It said it wouldn't be able to meet the new financial disclosure requirements in time. The OTC-Bulletin Board is a loosely regulated electronic- quote service. Most of the companies being evicted are expected to move to the Pink Sheets, a similar service that posts less timely quotes than those on the bulletin board. Companies may return to the bulletin board if they later meet the new requirements, which a number say they're in the process of doing. The NASD last year approved a measure that requires all companies on the OTC Bulletin Board to submit to SEC disclosure and accounting requirements. The change eventually could force as many as half of the 6,651 small companies off the bulletin board, after the eligibility requirements are fully in place. The NASD, which runs the bulletin board but doesn't regulate it, changed its requirements to tighten oversight of trading in small stocks on the bulletin board, which has been plagued by stock fraud. The NASD said a list of bulletin board securities and their eligibility status can be found at www.otcbb.com. NYSE/AMEX delayed 20 min. NASDAQ delayed 15 min. Access More Information and Services Above