Here is my (slight) understanding of HO numbers.
Post# of 36536
The SEC seems to use HO numbers to track correspondence or “cases”, like a ticket number on a hep desk. So when you correspond with the SEC (as I have), they put an HO number on the email to track your “case”.
Whether or not they use a similar method to assign a case against a company (as Joe seems to be telling NYD), I do not know. That is to say, I’m sure there is a number for such a thing, I just can’t confirm it’s a similar HO number.
If that is the case, it would be interesting to know which of these HO numbers cannot be left “open”, as Joe indicates, in order to clear a listing. Would a simple inquiry from a shareholder, which is given an HO number, hold up the show? I wouldn’t think that would necessarily be the case.
There seem to be enough searches on Google to indicate that HO numbers are significant, at least some of the time. But, as the SEC has confirmed to me and others, you cannot search HO numbers or cases against companies. Only the company can disclose this information.
Why Joe cannot do that in this case, we wish we knew.
You can search the SEC for cases against individuals, however. Joseph Moscato has no cases against him currently.