Company Says It Found Naked Shorters
Jul 3, 2003 (financialwire.net via COMTEX) -- (FinancialWire) America's Senior Financial Services (OTCBB: AMSE) says it is trying to identify those it believes is responsible for illegal naked short selling of its shares on the OTCBB, which is "administered" but not "regulated" by NASDAQ (OTCBB: NADQ).
Recently the CEO Council (www.ceocouncil.net) has taken an interest in promoting serious reforms on the OTCBB after its recent stunning victory in preserving the OTCBB following a year of intensive lobbying with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
America's Senior Financial Services said it is "considering moving to 'certificate only' trading to sidestep the abuses that exist via short selling of securities" it says exists in the electronic trading system of the Depository Trust Corp. However, recently the SEC ruled that the DTC can prevent companies from protecting themselves against manipulative trading by exiting the DTC, saying companies must find "other" unspecified and confusing "means."
Nelson Locke, America's Senior Financial Services CEO, stated: "Recently we confirmed specific short selling activity. The party involved was significantly short. Their continued shorting placed unnecessary downward pressure on the price of our shares. We identified their Broker and discussed the situation. Because our shares are DTC eligible, the Broker allowed the short selling to continue even after being advised that the seller could not cover his short position. We believe we could reduce this type of harmful conduct by requiring that shareholders have physical custody of actual certificates before selling. For the vast majority of AMSE shareholders, this would not be an issue. For those who have engaged in this type of conduct in the past, this would make it much more difficult for them to short our stock."
The SEC ruled that shares in the DTC electronic system may be removed to physical shares by the holders. Therefore, Locke announced a "Short Busters Club," and urged shareholders to request physical certificates from the Florida Atlantic Stock Transfer at 954/726-4954.
Some 96 public companies have been "taking actions to ensure the integrity of the market in their publicly traded securities and to combat suspected naked short selling activity in their shares." There are 109 public companies that have so far been touched by the growing national financial scandal.
Some thirteen on the list of 109, such as A.G. Edwards, Inc. (NYSE: AGE), Ameritrade Holding Corp. (NASDAQ: AMTD), Deutsche Bank AG (NYSE: DB), E*Trade Group, Inc. (NYSE: ET), FleetBoston (NYSE: FBF), Goldman, Sachs & Co. (NYSE: GS), Knight Securities, LP (NASDAQ: NITE), Ladenburg Thalmann & Co., Inc. (AMEX: LHS), M. H. Myerson & Co., Inc. (NASDAQ: MHMY), Olde / H&R Block (NYSE: HRB), Charles Schwab (NYSE: SCH), Toronto-Dominion's (NYSE: TD), TD Waterhouse Group and vFinance, Inc. (OTCBB: VFIN), have been accused by one or more public companies as allegedly participating in short selling activities or abuses, or of failing to settle trades.
The remaining 96 companies have issued press releases or been named in press releases as taking various actions, either alone or in concert with other companies, to oppose manipulative trading in the form of illegal naked short selling. The actions have ranged from lawsuits to withdrawals and threatened withdrawals from the electronic trading system managed by the Depository Trust & Clearing Corp., to withdrawals from toxic financings, to the issuance of dividends or name changes designed to squeeze manipulators, to joining associations or networks or to contacting regulatory authorities to provide documentation of abuses or otherwise complain.
On June 4, the SEC stated "the issues surrounding naked short selling are not germane to the manner in which DTC operates as a depository registered as a clearing agency. Decisions to engage in such transactions are made by parties other than DTC. DTC does not allow its participants to establish short positions resulting from their failure to deliver securities at settlement. While the Commission appreciates commenters' concerns about manipulative activity, those concerns must be addressed by other means.
Nevertheless, short positions do in fact exist due to failures of the electronic settlement system to balance their electronic books, and the SEC has provided shareholders and small companies with no inkling of what the Commission has in mind in "addressing" these concerns "by other means."
The complete list of those 95 companies include Advanced Viral Research Corp. (OTCBB: ADVR), AdZone Research, Inc. (OTCBB: ADZR), Amazon Natural Treasures (OTC: ANTD), America's Senior Financial Services (OTCBB: AMSE), American Ammunition, Inc. (OTCBB: AAMI), AngelCiti Entertainment (OTCBB: AGLC), ATSI Communications, Inc. (OTC: ATSC), Federal Agricultural Mortgage Corp. "Farmer Mac" (NYSE: FRE), Allied Capital (NYSE: ALD), American Motorcycle (OTC: AMCYV), American International Industries (OTCBB: AMIN), Ameri-Dream (OTC: AMDR), Adirondack Pure Springs Mt. Water Co. (OTCBB: APSW), Bluebook International (OTCBB: BBIC), Blue Industries (OTCBB: BLIIV), Bentley Communications (OTCBB: BTLY), BIFS Technologies Corporation (OTCBB: BIFT), Biocurex (OTCBB: BOCX). Broadleaf Capital Partners, Inc. (OTCBB: BDLF), Chattem, Inc. (NASDAQ: CHTT), Critical Home Care (OTCBB: CCLH), Composite Holdings (OTC: COHIA), Diamond International Group (OTCBB: DMND), Dobson Communications Corp. (NASDAQ: DCEL), Eagle Tech Communications (OTC: EATC), Edgetech Services (OTCBB: EDGH);
Also, Endovasc Ltd. (OTCBB: EVSC), Enviro-Energy Corporation (OTCBB: ENGY), Environmental Products & Technologies (OTC: EPTC), eResearchTechnologies, Inc. (NASDAQ: ERES), Flight Safety Technologies (OTCBB: FLST), Freddie Mac (NYSE: FRE), FreeStar Technologies (OTCBB: FSRCE), Geotec Thermal Generators, Inc. (OTCBB: GETC), Genesis Intermedia (OTC: GENI), GeneMax Corp. (OTCBB: GMXX), Global Path (OTCBB: GBPI), Group Management (OTCBB: GPMT), Hop-On (OTC: HPON), H-Quotient, Inc., (OTCBB: HQNT), Hyperdynamics Corp. (OTCBB: HYPD), International Biochem (OTCBB: IBCL), Intergold Corp. (OTCBB: IGCO), International Broadcasting Corporation (OTCBB: IBCS), InternetStudios, Inc. (OTCBB: ISTO), ITIS Holdings (OTCBB: ITHH), Investco Corp. (OTCBB: IVCO), Lair Holdings (OTC: LAIR), Lifeline BioTechnologies Inc. (OTC: LBTT), Life Energy & Technology (OTCBB: LETH), MBIA (NYSE: MBI);
Also, MegaMania Interactive (OTC: MNIA), MetaSource Group, Inc. (OTCBB: MTSR), Midastrade.com (OTC: MIDS), Make Your Move (OTCBB: MKMV), Medinah Minerals (OTC: MDMN), MSM Jewelry Corp. (OTC: MSMC), Nanopierce Technologies, Inc. (OTCBB: NPCT), Nutra Pharmaceutical (OTCBB: NPHC), Nutek (OTCBB: NUTK), Navigator Ventures (OTC: NVGV), Pitts & Spitts (OTC: PSPP), Sales OnLine Direct (OTCBB: PAID), Pacel Corp. (OTCBB: PACC), PayStar Corporation (OTC: PYST), Petrogen Corp. (OTCBB: PTGC), Pinnacle Business Management (OTC: PCBM), Premier Development & Investment, Inc. (OTCBB: PDVN), PrimeHoldings.com, Inc. (OTC: PRIM), Phlo Corporation (OTCBB: PHLC), Resourcing Solutions (OTC: RESG), Reed Holdings (OTC: RDHC), Rocky Mountain Energy Corp. (OTCBB: RMECE), RTIN Holdings (OTCBB: RTNHE), Saflink Corp. (NASDAQ: SFLK), Safe Travel Care (OTCBB: SFTVV), Sedona Corp. (OTCBB: SDNA);
Also, Sionix Corp. (OTCBB: SINX), Starmax Technologies (OTC: SMXIF), Storage Suites America (OTC: SSUA), Suncomm Technologies (OTC: STEH), Sports Resorts International (NASDAQ: SPRI), Technology Logistics (OTC: TLOS), Swiss Medica, Inc. (OTCBB: SWME), Ten Stix, Inc. (OTCBB: TNTI), Tidelands Oil (OTCBB: TIDE), Titan Construction (OTC: TTCS), Trezac Corp. (OTCBB: TREZE), Universal Express, Inc. (OTCBB: USXP), Valesc Holdings, Inc. (OTCBB: VLSHV), Vega Atlantic (OTCBB: VGAC), Vista Continental Corporation, (OTCBB: VICC), Viva International (OTCBB: VIVI), Vtex Energy (OTCBB: VXENE) and Wizzard Software (OTCBB: WIZD).and WorldTradeShow.com (OTC: WTSW).
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