Take-Two Stock (Sort Of) Scandal
"Get your stinking money (sic) paws of me your dirty apes!"
Take-Two has received a rap on the knuckles from US-based 'tech-heavy' stock market, NASDAQ. This comes following its failure to produce reports for the fiscal year ending October 31st 2006.
The US publisher failed to return its Form 10-K† in time and received a warning notice (jargonised as a ‘Staff Determination Letter’) from NASDAQ. The letter warned of the possibility of the company being de-listed, a potentially huge blow for shareholders that would result in them being unable to trade stock. Take-Two is required to respond to the NASDAQ Listing Qualifications Panel before January 25th.
Take-Two reports that the reason for its tardiness is its ongoing investigation of stock option backdating, which directly impacts stock value in employee's favour. Former CEO, Ryan Brant, has had the finger pointed squarely at him and is now unable to act as an officer or director of a public company for five years. Three other former execs are also under investigation.
This isn't the first time this has happened to Take-Two. It previously received a Staff Determination letter when it failed to comply with certain filing requirements for its ††10-Q form for the third quarter ending July 31st 2006. It also received one of the warnings for failure to solicit proxies in a timely manner and hold its annual shareholders meeting.
The upshot of those previous two letters? Take-Two was allowed to keep its NASDAQ listing subject to various conditions. It's highly unlikely that there will be any other result here. The wheels of the ‘free’ market keep on turning.
As we sent this story live we received a communication from Take-Two shareholder, US attorney Jack Thompson, accusing the company of, among other things, “illegal activities”, “hiding certain specific risks”, and “scandals in your corporate closet”.
Thompson, who will be attending the next T-T shareholer’s meeting then calls on “God’s grace” and invokes the name of Charlton Heston (who will undoubtedly contribute useful lines to take at the meeting, such as telling the security guards to “Get your stinking paws off of me, you damn dirty ape!")
The news comes after Atari escaped delisting on NASDAQwarning Atari received last week indicating it would be de-listed by NASDAQ should its share prices decrease any further. The word 'storm' followed by 'small', 'china' and 'vestibule' all spring to mind.
†“SEC Form 10-K is the annual report that most public reporting companies file with the U.S. Securities & Exchange Commission. Form 10-K provides a comprehensive overview of the registrant's business. Some companies choose to send their Form 10-K to their shareholders instead of sending a separate annual report. Currently, Form 10-K must be filed with the SEC within 90 days after the end of the company's fiscal year.”
Source: allbusiness.com:
††A comprehensive report of a company's performance that must be submitted quarterly by all public companies to the Securities & Exchange Commission. In the 10-Q, firms are required to disclose relevant information regarding their financial position. The form must be submitted on time, and the information should be available to all interested parties. The 10-Q is due 35 days (it used to be 45 days) after each of the first three fiscal quarters. There is no filing after the fourth quarter because that is when the 10-K is filed. Source:financialdictionary.com
The US publisher failed to return its Form 10-K† in time and received a warning notice (jargonised as a ‘Staff Determination Letter’) from NASDAQ. The letter warned of the possibility of the company being de-listed, a potentially huge blow for shareholders that would result in them being unable to trade stock. Take-Two is required to respond to the NASDAQ Listing Qualifications Panel before January 25th.
Take-Two reports that the reason for its tardiness is its ongoing investigation of stock option backdating, which directly impacts stock value in employee's favour. Former CEO, Ryan Brant, has had the finger pointed squarely at him and is now unable to act as an officer or director of a public company for five years. Three other former execs are also under investigation.
This isn't the first time this has happened to Take-Two. It previously received a Staff Determination letter when it failed to comply with certain filing requirements for its ††10-Q form for the third quarter ending July 31st 2006. It also received one of the warnings for failure to solicit proxies in a timely manner and hold its annual shareholders meeting.
The upshot of those previous two letters? Take-Two was allowed to keep its NASDAQ listing subject to various conditions. It's highly unlikely that there will be any other result here. The wheels of the ‘free’ market keep on turning.
As we sent this story live we received a communication from Take-Two shareholder, US attorney Jack Thompson, accusing the company of, among other things, “illegal activities”, “hiding certain specific risks”, and “scandals in your corporate closet”.
Thompson, who will be attending the next T-T shareholer’s meeting then calls on “God’s grace” and invokes the name of Charlton Heston (who will undoubtedly contribute useful lines to take at the meeting, such as telling the security guards to “Get your stinking paws off of me, you damn dirty ape!")
The news comes after Atari escaped delisting on NASDAQwarning Atari received last week indicating it would be de-listed by NASDAQ should its share prices decrease any further. The word 'storm' followed by 'small', 'china' and 'vestibule' all spring to mind.
†“SEC Form 10-K is the annual report that most public reporting companies file with the U.S. Securities & Exchange Commission. Form 10-K provides a comprehensive overview of the registrant's business. Some companies choose to send their Form 10-K to their shareholders instead of sending a separate annual report. Currently, Form 10-K must be filed with the SEC within 90 days after the end of the company's fiscal year.”
Source: allbusiness.com:
††A comprehensive report of a company's performance that must be submitted quarterly by all public companies to the Securities & Exchange Commission. In the 10-Q, firms are required to disclose relevant information regarding their financial position. The form must be submitted on time, and the information should be available to all interested parties. The 10-Q is due 35 days (it used to be 45 days) after each of the first three fiscal quarters. There is no filing after the fourth quarter because that is when the 10-K is filed. Source:financialdictionary.com
Companies:
Take 2
Read More Like This