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Dude... I'm not a miracle worker ;)
I'll settle for a PR at this point :)
well, of course, better news would be PAYMENT within a month, rather than just a pr giving an update on the payment.
I'd hate to see a PR late July, stating that they'll start making payments in 2019 lol.
No problem, glad to be the bearer of GOOD news =)
thanks for that. fingers and toes crossed.
GOOD NEWS....
I just spoke with Mitchell Nussbaum and he said that they are working through the court "mechanism" to get the payments made. He said that they would release a PR within a month with an update on the situation.
I didn't get any vibe from him that payments would not be made, it just seemed like they have a lot of hoops to jump through to get it done.
I also was incorrect about him dodging phone calls about AOBI, he was very open to talking about it and didn't seem like he was hesitant or choosing his words carefully.
I think this will get done, we should know more in several weeks.
yep. I suppose that's true. I guess we could inundate the SEC with online complaint forms:
https://www.sec.gov/complaint/tipscomplaint.shtml
"False or misleading statements about a company (including false or misleading SEC reports or financial statements)"
that seems to apply here.
I really don't think the SEC gives a damn though. Business as usual
Well, it's a chinese based company with two sets of books, completely ignoring 10s of millions in creditor claims, so for all intents and purposes, they disappeared long ago.
" I suspect the secretary has been told to take messages for everything related to AOBI."
lol, well I guess that's NOT good news.
No, I've never tried to call him. Seems like a waste of time based on your experience, and I've given up calling people, it just adds to the frustration that no one can provide any answer.
Seems like shysters all around.
I wonder how many months go by, before the SEC, DTC, Finra etc consider this a closed matter.
Will the SEC even care that the company just stole millions of $$ from it's shareholders?
But then again, they did spend the money to the law firm to write up / submit the SEC filings, Get approved for the reverse split, delisting etc. Seems like they did everything according to standard protocol.
if they were gonna default on money owed to shareholders, why wouldn't they just take off? disappear?
don't know/ don't care at this point.
Well I guess that's good news....
I can't get the lawyer (Mitchell Nussbaum: 212-407-4000) to call me back... I've called 2-3 times now, but plan to keep trying.
Have you ever tried to call him? If you do, they will ask you what the call is in reference to. Maybe he'll take your call if you just say "it's private, but he knows what it's in reference to". I suspect the secretary has been told to take messages for everything related to AOBI.
I found this in the 10-Q filed 1/30/2014.
It looks like the cash payout shouldn't be bogged down/entangled with previous class-action lawsuit.....
Maybe it was delayed for a short while.
NOTE at the bottom.."There are no other known legal proceedings against the Company." So what the hell??
On December 2, 2013, the same Plaintiffs who brought the action claiming a default under the Notes, which is referenced above, brought an action in which they sought and obtained a temporary restraining order (“TRO”), prohibiting the Company from buying fractional shares in connection with a reverse stock split that the Company intends to effect. The reverse stock split is part of a transaction whereby the Company would effect a 1-for-501 reverse stock split of its shares of Common Stock and make a cash payment of $0.50 per pre-reverse stock split share, in lieu of the issuance of fractional shares as a result of the reverse stock split. The transaction is intended to reduce the number of the Company’s record holders below 300, so that the Company could de-register as a reporting company with the SEC and effectively “go private.” The TRO was granted by the Court. In granting TRO, the Court noted that it was not anticipated that the reverse stock split would be consummated prior to the hearing on Plaintiffs motion for an order to show cause as to why the Court should not preliminarily grant relief and thus the TRO would not present any real burden on the Company. The Company is still able to continue the process required under the federal securities laws to move forward with the reverse stock split. On January 7, 2014, argument was heard on the order to show cause. On January 14, 2014, the Court denied the Plaintiff’s motion for a Preliminary Injunction, which sought to continue the TRO, thereby ending the temporary restraint.
There are no other known legal proceedings against the Company.
lol, I'm showing 7 shares traded this morning at 9.46 am. at $4.5?
miserable heaping pos!
I think the person to call is the lawyer, Mitchell Nussbaum (212) 407-4000.
I'll eventually get around to calling him, but I'm super swamped with work and won't get a chance to this week.
If anyone gets a chance to call, report back what you find out. Otherwise I'll try to get to it next week.
called transfer agent Computershare just now. Hopelessly HOPELESSLY clueless.
1-800-962-4284
woman could barely speak english for one thing.
I think I called their phone number to the company cafeteria. lol.
telling me I should call my broker to find out when they will be getting the cash payment. Duh.
oh well, I'm considering this a lost cause, and that money is lost.
Not calling anyone else. It never gets me anywhere, only creates more questions.
didn't lose that much, but the principle of the thing. Companies allowed to get away with this sh*t.
I don't have much money tied up in this POS to expend much time/energy about it. we'll see maybe next week.
I've called lawyers, transfer agents, and even law firms that wrote the press releases and SEC filings (which turned out to be false)...and never really a satisfying conclusion.
But I refuse to believe that no one has a clue. At least your broker told you about the courts being involved with this.
You'd think that information should have been disseminated to the shareholder public before/during announcing a going-private transaction. EVERYONE would have probably sold all shares, to get their money out fast....
rather than possibly make a few dollars in months/years...or maybe never.
Here's the lawyer's info: Mitchell Nussbaum (212) 407-4000
Go ahead and call, see if you can get any more info out of them than I can. Actually, the guy to call would be the lawyer. Call him and ask what the deal is.
Received a response for my request for update from Vanguard. They essentially had no update. They just reiterated that the last update they received was from May 12, blah blah blah.
No mention of payment locked up by the courts etc.
I'm getting tempted to call the transfer agent, but it sounds like they are clueless, or willfully giving murky information.
yes. Years probably, if anyone sees payment ever. And maybe only a fraction of what is owed on top of that.
From my broker... Unfortunately it looks like you were right, it might be awhile before we get paid.
Did you just get that info from your broker? or was that from the transfer agent?
I can't find any online info regarding legal proceedings concerning the cash payment (or lack thereof)
Updated Info: Ottoman is right, our payments are going through the court system right now... I would assume that it's tied to the lawsuit somehow.
Any brokerage-related updates concerning the payments? Updated DTC notes, etc?
Class-action lawsuit still ongoing (as of Feb 28,2014). I would think this would have to be settled first, and any punitive damages be paid, before shareholders are cashed out.
I guess we'll be waiting a few years/forever.
http://securities.stanford.edu/filings-case.html?id=104921
You'd think there is (or should be) a time limit, whereby the company has to pay for the shares, or they are found to be in default and have to reimburse the shares taken away. They can't just go private, and shareholders are stuck with shares in "contra" account forever.
But then again, why the hell not. At this point nothing would surprise me.
What if this takes months, into next year. I guess shareholders could write those shares off as a loss next tax-year. Even if it shows shares still held in "contra".
I guess the SEC or Finra etc will just turn a blind eye to this. Just another Chinese gray-sheet POS high-risk penny-stock company.
nope, there's a whole bunch of law firms part of that class-action suit in 2012. I guess we'll need to keep them in mind.
Ugh... not a good track record...
Past class-action law suit against AOBI.
http://securities.stanford.edu/filings-documents/1049/AOBI00_01/2012622_f01c_12CV05476.pdf
http://www.reuters.com/finance/stocks/AOBI.PK/key-developments/article/2584789
I'm still fairly optimistic. I think we were delayed until 5/12 for some unknown reason, and what should have taken 1-2 weeks took 5. The company now knows how much money to send DTC, so we should be back on track now. I'll start worrying if we haven't been paid in 3 weeks.
well it's been 8 weeks since shares were moved to "contra" account for cash out.
I've all but given up on this POS.
no way, under any circumstances should this take this long.
transfer agent is clueless, sounds like brokers are clueless.
stick a fork in it, it's done.
apparently companies are allowed to reverse split into oblivion, and totally screw shareholders out of money/shares with no repercussions?
not surprised I guess.
Yea, 5/12 was the day that DTC reported back to the company how many fractional shares they need to cash out. IMO that note is just poorly worded... I'm guessing that we'll get paid at the end of May.
not looking good. Latest info I received from broker on this matter:
"Dear Valued Client:
The latest news post issued by DTCC in regards to AOBI is listed below.
05/12/14 WE ARE IN THE PROCESS OF WORKING WITH THE COMPANY TO DETERMINE HOW
THEY ARE GOING TO PAY FOR THE CASH OUT AND CIL."
so it looks like they don't know HOW they can pay for it??
great :(
Thanks for info. I'm skeptical because this co has disregarded, for example, the convertible note holders who were defaulted upon some time ago. It was a surprise that they were able to pull this off: eliminating liquidity and potentially sending cash to small holders despite being in default to more senior holders. So I don't have a lot of faith. But I hope you're right and we see payment.
Funds are never collected beforehand, but I think they do have to show the ability to pay.
I'm trying to figure out why you think it's DOA... It's been 7 weeks since the split, and we're definitely on the upper end of what would be considered "normal", but I won't start getting nervous until 10+ weeks.
Have you spoken with the company?
I just found out more info:
Monday 5/12 was the date that DTC told the company exactly how much money they will need in order to cash out fractional shares from all brokerages. Typically this happens 1-2 weeks after the split, but in our case something held it up an extra 5 weeks.
At this point I would estimate that it will take anywhere from 1-4 weeks before brokerages receive the payments.
If anyone is interested, Here is the contact number for the lawyer for the company: Mitchell Nussbaum (212) 407-4000
Report back with what you find out.
Funds are never collected beforehand, but I think they do have to show the ability to pay.
I'm trying to figure out why you think it's DOA... It's been 7 weeks since the split, and we're definitely on the upper end of what would be considered "normal", but I won't start getting nervous until 10+ weeks.
Have you spoken with the company?
If it's a function of the company still having to remit payment, then this thing is DOA. I had thought perhaps the funds would have been submitted before FINRA approved the registration withdrawal. There's no way the company is sending $4 million for this voluntarily.
Got my broker to contact DTC today, and DTC said that they are still awaiting payment, but have no idea on a timetable.
I also tried contacting the transfer agent, but the rep was clueless and couldn't find any info. I called back two more times but kept getting the same rep, so I hung up.
If anyone else wants to try the transfer agent, here's the number: 800-835-8778, say "not a shareholder", say "Representative"
Then ask: When will AOBI send payment to DTC for the fractional shares?
hmm honestly, I can't remember. I guess I get them electronically now that I see that. Almost never check the account.
I use Fidelity. Good enough for me. Apex-cleared brokers stink. Illiquidity fees, non-DTC eligible fees, etc. nuts to that!
Yea, I see that $20 account fee, but then down below it says:
"A $20 account service fee is charged annually. The fee is waived for Voyager, Voyager Select, and Flagship clients, as well as for any client who elects to receive statements and other important information electronically."
Do you receive electronic statements/docs? If so, it seems like they are supposed to waive that fee.
Vanguard is ok, but is more of a full-service broker.
It does have an account maintenance fee.
I don't think they have illiquidity fees, or special fees for otc/pinks.
I rarely use the account. I don't like the idea of having to pay for the "privilege" of doing business with a broker (yearly acct maintenance), so I'll be closing it soon.
Thanks ottoman =)
What are your thoughts on Vanguard as a broker? Do they have any fees (account, inactivity, OTC/Pink, DTC, illiquidity) or different commissions for OTC/Pink/Sub-Dollar stocks?
Talked with my broker Vanguard today. They confirmed what you did about something going on May 5 2014, but couldn't say beyond that when things will be finalized.
Maybe because this is a foreign Chinese gray-sheet-stock company lol.
who knows, taking forever though.
The transfer agent told me that DTC would be doing some payment processing on Monday (5/5), so I would assume that we should see payments made sometime next week.
Does anyone have any info from the brokerage side? Feel free to share what Fidelity/Schwab/Ameritrade/etc are saying on their end.
Thanks =)
the D came off today. It's now been a month since reverse stock split. Taking forever certainly.
In my experience, the transfer agent is the one who knows for sure. Just call them and ask when they are wiring the money to dtc. Takes dtc a day or to to divy the funds up to the brokers, who then post the cash to accounts the same day or next business day.
Just a quick note, I had already contacted TradeKing last week and they had said usually things only take a few days (echoing what you stated) but other than that they had no idea in this particular case.
CSRs at Fido have been feeding similar lines to mefor years.
Once you see the CUSIP changed, it becomes a waiting game.
No need to apologize, we all appreciated the info that you provided. The split date info panned out, but the payout date did not.... no biggie. 50% right is pretty good =)
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