From the stockhouse thread. Beararn, on the Stockhouse thread, wrote Mr. Chu an Email and here is the response. Mr Chu's responses are in CAPS.
Mr Chu,
I am a relatively new stockholder to v.cpt and I am very impressed with the company, management and future prospects. I am also, by the way, very impressed with the quality of people who are following this stock on the Bulleting Board (Stockhouse)- it is fun to discuss issues with some very intelligent people there.
A: THANK YOU FOR YOUR KIND WORDS
If I may, I do have a few questions which are as yet unclear to me and I think would be of interest to other stockholders on the Bulletin Board. If you do have time to respond, at your convenience, I would share that information with the others.
1) Is there any progress on the IPO for CIBT - we haven't heard anything since the 3Q (October) report. I personally think the value of cibt may be lost in the excitement over SEG, and I would look forward to that hidden value being unleashed.
A: YES, WE ARE HOLDING A CIBT DIRECTOR'S MEETING IN 3 WEEKS TO APPROVE THE RESOLUTION OF A REVERSE MERGER SO THAT CIBT CAN BECOME TRADING ON THE US OTC-BB. THE TARGET COMPANY IS BACKED BY DIRECTORS COMING FROM THE EDUCATION BACKGROUND, TO BE PRECISE, A PROFESSOR IN CLINICAL PYCHIATRY. WE FEEL VERY STRONG SYNERGY AMONGST THE PARTIES.
2) When will the website be updated? It would be nice to have all the financials, news, etc in one place, as well as the thoughts of management.
A: WE HAVE RETAINED MORE NEW TEAM MEMBERS TO HAVE ALL 3 OF OUR WEB SITES UPDATED. WE HOPE TO SEE A TOTAL FACE LIFT WITHIN 3-4 WEEKS. SEG WEB SITE WILL BE UP WITHIN THE END OF THIS WEEK.
3) Can you tell me why you are "only" targeting two brokers in each country for SEG? why not 3? or 4? or 5? to choke off any competitors from coming in the back door (i.e. make the path of least resistance for anyone to join you -and pay you - rather than even think about setting up competition
A: ONE BROKER PER COUNTRY WILL MAKE THEM PASSIVE, LACK OF COMPETITION. THREE IS A CROWD AND WE WILL EARN LITTLE LOYALTY FROM OUR PARTNER BROKERS., AND THE STRENGTH OF A LONG TERM PARTNERSHIP BECOMES WEAKENED.
4) What is to stop a Scwab from buying a local broker (and their client list, staff, etc) in various countries, instead of trying to partner with them, to overcome issues you mentioned about the "wall"....
A: MOST EMERGING COUNTRIES HAVE STRICT FOREIGN COMPETITION RULES, PARTICULARLY IN THE FINANCE INDUSTRY. C.S HAS TRIED MARKET ENTRIES BY ACQUISITION INTO MANY EMERGING MARKETS, BUT ENCOUNTERED MOUNTAINFUL OF RED TAPES SUCH AS FOREIGN OWNERSHIP LAW, RESTRICTION FOR FOREIGN BROKERS TO OWN MAJORITY CONTROL ETC.. MOST MAJOR INSTITUTES ALSO HAVE PROBLEM OWNING ANYTHING LESS THAN 51% IF THEY ARE THE ONE PUTTING UP THE CAPITAL. THEY FEEL VOLUNARABLE. THEREFORE, THEY RECENTLY SWITCHED THEIR MODEL FROM OWNERSHIP TO PARTNERSHIP. THE PROBLEM TO THIS APPROACH IS THAT THEIR POSITION AS A INTERNET BROKER PRESENTS A MAJOR CONFLICT OF INTEREST. LOCAL BROKERS ARE AFRAID THAT ONCE CHARLES SCHWARB IS IN THEIR DOOR, WHAT PREVENTS THEM FROM TAKING OVER THEIR CLIENT BASE?
5) Is the 75 million or so for the SEG IPO guaranteed, or does it depend upon market conditions between now and the date of the IPO. For example,many IPOs in the US and Canada are being cancelled or postponed because of the large market correction that has taken place the past few weeks.
Is this possible in the case of the SEG ipo, or are the funds already committed to you?
A: THE FUTURE MARKET OUTLOOK IS A MILLION DOLLAR QUESTION. WE HAVE BEEN IN TOUCH WITH OUR SPONSORING BROKERS AND UNDERWRITTERS. THEY CONCURRED WITH US THAT OUR TIMING IS ANOTHER 6 MONTHS AWAY AND THE RECENT MARKET DOWNTURN IS MORE BENEFICIAL THAN DETRIMENTAL TO US BECAUSE WE NOW HAVE A 6 MONTH WINDOW FOR THE MARKET TO RECOVER. THEY RATHER SEE THE MARKET CRASH NOW INSTEAD OF SEEING THE MARKET KEEPS ON GOING UP AND WAIT FOR THE BUBBLE TO BURST JUST FEW WEEKS BEFORE OUR IPO.
THE SPONSORSHIP AGREEMENT IS LEGAL AND BINDING. IN THE CASE OF UNFAVORABLE MARKET, IT IS THE BEST INTEREST OF ALL PARTIES TO POSTPONE, NOT CANCELLED. OUR SPONSOR BROKERS HAVE EXPANDED GREAT EFFORTS IN THEIR SPONSORSHIP INCLUDING THE PREPARATION OF ANALYST REPORTS, ATTEND MEETINGS WITH ALL PARTIES (LAWYERS, ACCOUNTANTS, STOCK EXCHANGE ETC..) AND THEY DO NOT GET PAID UNTIL THE COMPANY IS LISTED.
IN THE EVENT THE MARKET CONTINUES TO GO DOWN HILL FOR 6 M0NTHS STRAIGHT, WHICH IS UNLIKELY, SEG'S BUSINESS STILL GOES ON AND LIFE ALSO GOES ON. WHAT GOES UP MUST COME DOWN, AND WHAT GOES DOWN MUST COME BACK UP. LOOK AT THE ASIAN CRISIS LITTLE LESS THAN 1.5 YEAR AGO. HONG KONG'S HANG SANG INDEX WENT FROM 15,000 POINT IN 97, FLOORED TO 6,000 IN DECEMBER 98, THEN RECOVERED TO THE RECENT HIGH OF 17,000, ALL WITHIN 24 MONTHS.
AS LONG AS THE COMPANY CONTINUES TO PURSUE THE BUSINESS, PERFECT ITS MODEL AND AGGRESSIVELY ACQUIRE ITS MARKET SHARES, A FEW MONTHS OF DELAY (IF NEEDED) IS ONLY A MATTER OF PRUDENT BUSINESS DECISION.
6) Finally, can you tell us how the restructuring of Datamat is going, and your feeling about the potential of this company? Have all debtors agreed to your refinancing plans? Is morale of staff and management good and are marketing plans proceeding well?
A: THE BUSINESS MODEL OF SEG WAS ACQUIRED FROM THE DATAMAT EXPERIENCE. WE ARE UNABLE TO REACH A DEAL WITH THEIR CREDITORS AS SUCH, WE DIDNOT SIT AND WAIT WHILE THE WORLD CONTINUES TO TURN. WE THEREFORE ACQUIRED THEIR KNOWLEDGE AND THEIR NETWORK OF BROKERS RELATIONSHIP AND LAUNCHED THE SEG MODEL STARTING FROM ASIA. WHILE THEIR CREDITORS CONTINUE TO STRUGGLE WITHIN THEMSELVES AND TRY TO COME TO TERM WITH REALITY, WE ALREADY STARTED A NEW HORIZON.
I hope that I am not too presumptious in posing these questions to you, but Keith Massey speaks so highly of you and of your openness that I thought I would "go to the source" I assure you I will share the information with others on the bulletin board.
NOT AT ALL AND THANK YOU FOR INQUIRY. BEST REGARDS, TOBY CHU FROM HONG KONG.
Thank you and best wishes, |
