Here is how I understand that rule. The reason why 5% or greater shareholders are allowed to be given that information is solely because they have to report their trades and acquisitions. If a shareholder is a less than 5% shareholder, they can then trade on that news (such as day traders) and profit from it to the exclusion of other shareholders. Also, information provided by a TA presumes those numbers are not contested by the company. Thats why unless the company releases those numbers, they should't be relied upon. Its a strict violation that members of this board need to be aware of.
The company made public the issue of the improper conversions. It obvious it also has a legal dispute with its former TA, so ANY information provided by it, I would not rely on, legally or otherwise.
At the end of the day, the TA improperly released that information, and it appears thats more the reason why now they are not the companies TA. The burden is on the TA to qualify the requestor as authorized.
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