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Post# of 56323
Newly Appointed Chairmain of Creative Edge Nutrition (PINK: FITX) John Germinario Pleads with SEC Regarding Sector Suspensions
Regarded as a pioneer during his career within the ADR (American Depository Receipts) industry -- John Germinario was appointed as Chairman of Creative Edge Nutrition in April 2014. A seasoned banker with over 30 years experience in global capital markets, Germinario is tabbed to handle a variety of immediate tasks for Creative Edge Nutrition & CEN Biotech, including "regulatory compliance, risk management, corporate governance, potential mergers and acquisitions, assessing market strategy, and spearheading financing activities." It seems Germinario is rolling his sleeves up and aiming high.
After less than a month in office as Chairman, he wasted no time airing grievances directly with the SEC through an open letter posted on the company's Facebook account. In the letter, he stresses his role as a "financial securities fraud examiner and registered whistleblower with the SEC" -- and takes aim at what he seemingly perceives and details as incongruence between the actions toward issuers in the marijuana sector through trading suspensions as compared to inaction toward numerous international banks or big cap issuers in other sectors.
Financial regulatory agencies are in an unenviable position of weighing investor protection against fraud mitigation and adjusting their actions to suit. The elephant in the room, which Germinario points to in both conversational and emotional tone, is the simultaneously unintended but apparent side effect of the trading suspensions: hundreds of millions of dollars sector-wide in evaporated shareholder value or market capitalization. It will be interesting to see how the letter is considered or replied to. One mainstay leader within the cannabis sector believes that the suspensions will serve the public markets well in the long run. Trading suspensions place a burden upon all stakeholders including the enforcement agency -- issuers are likely scrambling to expand compliance and oversight measures.
Some companies may choose to emulate practices required for listing on a national exchange, such as the extensive use of independent directors, executive compensation and audit committees, and overall corporate governance measures as detailed by NASDAQ in their posted listing requirements, for example.