Someone fax Les and Ian a copy for there throne room reading:
Company Press Release
Consortium of Small-cap Public Companies Join Individual Investor Organization to Promote Superior Standards of Financial 'Accessibility', 'Scrutiny' and 'Disclosure'!
30 Companies Qualify for 'Seal of Best Practices in Investor Relations'
NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--July 23, 1998-- A consortium of 30 small-capitalization public companies --- Alternative Entertainment (ALTT), ALYA International (OTCBB:ALYA - news), American Eco Corporation (Nasdaq:ECGOF - news), Beverly Hills Country Club (OTCBB:BHCC - news), Boatraks (OTCBB:BTRK - news), Casino Journal Publishing (OTCBB:CJPG - news), Colorstone International (CSTN), Corporate HQ (COHQ), DataWorks (Nasdaq:DWRX - news), Dinosaurus (OTCBB:DINO - news), Elephant and Castle Group (Nasdaq:PUBSF - news), Hydro Growth Systems (HYGS), Imperial Ginseng (Nasdaq:IGPFF - news), IVP Technology (OTCBB:TALL - news), Kaleidoscope Media Group (OTCBB:KMGG - news), Metal Recovery (OTCBB:MRTI - news), Mortgage Bankers Holding Corp. (OTCBB:MBHC - news), Net Nanny Software (NNS.V), National Affiliated Corp. (OTCBB:NAAC - news), NetUSA, Inc. (OTCBB:NTSA - news), Ora Electronics (OTCBB:ORAE - news), Probity International (PROB), Remington Hall Capital (OTCBB:REMH - news), Rocky Mountain Ginseng (OTCBB:RMGG - news), Spa Faucet (OTCBB:DRIP - news), Starnet Communications Intl. (OTCBB:SNMM - news), Sunbase Asia (Nasdaq:SNBS - news), U.S. Digital (OTCBB:USDI - news), Wall Street Records (OTCBB:RECD - news) and ZMAX Corp. (Nasdaq:ZMAX - news) --- have joined forces with the non-profit Investors Research Institute, Inc. to establish and implement higher standards of financial ''accessibility'', ''scrutiny'' and ''disclosure'' for public companies.
The 30 companies which have qualified to display the 'Seal of Best Practices in Investor Relations' issued by IRI, intend that their pledge to adhere to the Institute's principles will enable investors to differentiate their policies from those of other companies in this sector which traditionally has not seen as much information flow as is generally available for larger capitalization companies.
Many of the companies have applied or qualified for Elite Membership, meaning they have agreed to continuing third-party analyst coverage, financial presentations and conference calls equally accessible to all classes of investors, including individual investors, and have pledged to keep at least three years of press releases on their websites, among several other requirements.
When otherwise unavailable, the continuing analyst coverage may be provided by nine wirehouse-quality analysts who qualified in the organization's unique Public Analysis & Review (PAR) program, designed to ensure that all public companies which are willing to undergo third-party scrutiny may now be followed quarterly. At the same time, National Healthcare Manufacturing Corp. (Nasdaq:NHMCF - news) has not re-enrolled in the PAR program and has been dropped from coverage.
The companies pledge to meet all of the requirements associated with the organization's standards over the next year, and will report monthly on their efforts and current status.
''This is a great start for the 'Seal of Best Practices', a program which grew out of the public hearing conducted by the Task Force on Best Practices at the Money Show in Orlando earlier this year,'' said Brad Smith, Chairman of IRI. ''This fall, our organization's officers and directors, as well as analysts in the PAR program, and executives representing participating companies in the 'Seal' program, will begin a round of interviews designed to educate the general investing public to 'look for the seal'.
Smith said the organization is especially pleased that five of the founding participants in the 'Seal of Best Practices' program are developing companies which have not yet commenced trading, but nevertheless wanted to begin meeting the association's strict standards. The non-profit Institute is administered by IRI, Inc. (IRIK), itself a public company in registration.
The text for the Task Force hearing may be seen at iri.800-all-news.com .
''We would like to commend the executives of these companies for taking this important initial step in agreeing to adopt higher standards than are required by regulatory agencies.''
A special open enrollment plan will continue through July 31. The 'Seal', as well as the enrollment and monthly reporting forms, may be found on the internet at investorsresearch.org or members.xoom.com .
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