DTC Eligibility : that is the real issue at hand.
The main question that SFIO shareholders should be asking of management (Mr George Roth) is what, if anything, has been done to instigate or persuade the DTC to reconsider the global lock placed upon the stock. The DTC as a private company has no mandate or authority to even place "chills" or global locks on any security, yet it has done it for years and done so as a quasi-self-regulated-organization for which does not answer to the SEC or FINRA and only will discuss matters with their own clients, called "participants" (those brokerage firms which use the DTC for clearing and settlement). The issuer has never had any power to even contact the DTC to get a reason why the issue was chilled or locked or what the issuer could do to get it removed, until now. In recent months the SEC dropped a bomb on all of this mess and declared that any chilled or locked issuer has the right to an appeal and to be heard and answered as to the reason for the treatment (chilling of services) and if the DTC will not respond then the issuer can go to the SEC to get a fair hearing. Note the links below from linkedin where business professionals are discussing the matter as it unfolds.
http://www.linkedin.com/groups/SEC-ruled-toda...mp_3910176
"the SEC held that the DTC must provide this particular issuer with a formal hearing with fair procedures, and that the issuer is entitled to have the DTC's decision reviewed by the SEC. It also stated that the DTC "should" develop a uniform set of fair procedures for denying services to issuers (which is what a chill is - a denial of participation for clearing services).
What those uniform procedures end up being remains to be seen, and the SEC did not give a deadline to DTC for doing so. That said, this initial precedent is hugely important to address the exact issue which you describe, which is that DTC has, until now, simply said that it has no obligation to give any process or procedure or right to be heard to an issuer - only to a Participant. By this ruling, the SEC has stated that an issuer has the right to a hearing regarding a chill without a sponsoring Participant, and further that the issuer has the right to have the SEC review the DTC's ruling."
http://www.linkedin.com/groups/Bullfrog-Gold-...mp_3910176
"Bullfrog Gold Files Request for Appeal of DTC's Denial of Electronic Clearing and Settlement Services"
And back in early May 2012, BFGC put out this press release...
"Bullfrog Gold Corp. (OTCBB: BFGC) ("Bullfrog" or the "Company") announced that the Depository Trust Company (DTC) has granted the Company full eligibility for electronic clearance and settlement. This DTC eligibility eliminates the need to exchange actual stock certificates and reduces the transaction cost to shareholders.
"Bullfrog management has invested a lot of time to obtain DTC eligibility and we are pleased our efforts have been successful," Dave Beling, Bullfrog's President and CEO stated. "This is another positive step forward in the short history for Bullfrog. Giving our shareholders the ability to buy and sell shares with increased efficiency and lower cost is extremely important to us. It will also provide greater liquidity to current and future investors and allows us to expand our shareholder base."
So BFGC filed an appeal and then got the DTC to give them back DTC eligibility. So it can be done! It's up to the issuer to get the ball rolling and file an official request for an appeal to any "chill" or "global lock" (of DTC services) and if the DTC does not respond then the issuer can direct the appeal to the SEC to get a fair hearing. Also look at NAGP, they were on a global lock for 2 years and became fully reporting and it just recently was released from the global lock. The lack of full disclosure and failure to comply with reporting requirements of the SEC or even the lenient requirements of the OTC markets I think is one of the issues for the DTC, but that is just a guess. What we need is the issuer of SFIO, the CEO, or even First American Stock, the transfer agent acting on the companys behalf, to send an official appeal letter to the DTC. Do we even know if this has been done yet? What is going on?!!! Anyone home??!!!
Mr George Roth, have you filed any kind of appeal to the DTC??!!!
