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Gold/Mining/Energy : Solv Ex (SOLVD) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: gianelda who wrote (6255)	2/4/1999 10:02:00 AM
From: BRONCO BILLY	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 6735

FP Home FP Reports Money News Technology News Columnists Markets Snapshot World Watch Mutual Fund News Look up ticker symbol For Thursday, February 04, 1999 Solv-Ex wins early round in legal fight Ruling on venue By SANDRA RUBIN The Financial Post Solv-Ex Corp. won an early round legal victory with a decision by a U.S. federal court judge that it can pursue those it says ruined its business with a suit filed in New Mexico instead of in New York. The fight to control venue was the first tangle in what's shaping up as a scrappy court battle over the tactics of short sellers and the actions of one of the world's largest banks. Solv-Ex, an Albuquerque, N.M., firm that says it developed a better way to extract bitumen from the Alberta tar sands, is suing seven U.S. short sellers, giant Deutsche Bank AG and Weir-Jones Engineering Consultants Ltd., a Vancouver-based engineering firm. Two groups of short sellers and Weir-Jones went before a New York judge last week, asking that Solv-Ex be forced to try the case in New York. In a heated session, they argued that the New Mexico complaint, filed in December, was really just the continuation of a 1996 New York suit -- one the company itself asked to have dismissed for lack of funds. They told the judge that Solv-Ex promised to resume proceedings in New York if it ever wanted to take up the case again, and said the new filing was "at its heart, just a question of trial tactics" by lawyers. "They filed this convoluted piece of litigation in New Mexico, for whatever reason, then used it to get around an order of a U.S. Federal Court," said Lawrence Hoyle, representing one group of short sellers and Weir-Jones. Solv-Ex lawyer Paul Yetter said the New Mexico suit has 16 new defendants and a new plaintiff, and criticized the short sellers' position. "I have no doubt they would prefer to be here in New York -- their home town. Hotels in New York, air fares and other necessities of life are very expensive in New York compared with New Mexico." In a decision delivered by conference call late Friday afternoon, the judge ruled that the company can forge ahead in New Mexico, but stated that all his rulings in the prior case will apply to the new suit. Mr. Yetter couldn't be reached yesterday but Mr. Hoyle said he has not yet seen the written ruling, so it's premature to discuss whether they plan to appeal. Solv-Ex says the short sellers went to the company pretending to be potential investors, then misused confidential information to issue "reports" that the technology wouldn't work. Short sellers profit when a stock price falls. A fund manager at Deutsche Bank was secretly trying to corner the market in shares to cover unauthorized losses. Top Stories Rogers Cantel loses $78.6 million in '98 Rogers Cantel loses big in '98 Although company insiders predict a rosy future, Rogers Cantel said it posted a loss of $33.2 million for the fourth quarter of 1998, bringing the total loss on the year to $78.6 million. In Money News Cominco loses on low prices Mining firm Cominco Ltd. said a net loss of $12 million in the fourth quarter was due to property writedowns forced by low demand for nickel and other metals. In Money News More than 5,000 register with Bre-X trustee More than 5,000 people have registered with the bankruptcy trustee for Bre-X Minerals Ltd., all claiming to have lost money and all clamouring for a share of what little Bre-X has left. In Money News JetForm sees Q3 loss JetForm Corp., an electronic business form leader, said that its third quarter results are disappointing to the company and will no doubt disappoint investors and analysts. In Money News CANOE home \| We welcome your feedback. Copyright © 1999, Canoe Limited Partnership. All rights reserved. Please click here for full copyright terms and restrictions.