hier ein Bericht aus dem Sydney morning Herald über Adelong (vielleicht kennt ihr den schon). Der gibt ein bißchen Aufschluß über den Laden und über Deepgreen.
BUSINESS
Director ran off at the mouth
By LACHLAN JOHNSTON
Former Adelong Capital director, Mr Craig Manners, let his
"mouth take over from his mind" when he told a German-based Internet chat
room that the miner-turned-technology investor could be worth more than
$1 billion. Adelong chairman Mr Stanley Lewis yesterday said Mr Manners, a
merchant banker at DD Tolhurst, had probably been "too enthusiastic in the
interview, which triggered a dramatic surge in Adelong`s share price and
landed the group in trouble with the Australian Stock Exchange.
In the interview, published in German on the www.wallstreet-online.de
website, Mr Manners is reported saying some major Internet "names" from the US,Europe and/or Asia were about to invest in Adelong Capital.
He also said the group would spin off its remaining gold assets, had
almost completed investments in 12 Internet companies, and was analysing
another 19 start-ups.
The interview, published on January 14, is believed to have triggered a
wave of buying by European investors, that pushed Adelong shares from 43c to
$1.47, a 240 per cent rise, over eight trading days. About 36 million of the company`s 55 million shares turned over during the time. The share price rise, and some selling of personal shareholdings by three Adelong directors,
including Mr Lewis, attracted the attention of the ASX. It sent an official "please explain" query to the company on January 27.
In a note dated the same day and signed by Adelong director Mr Douglas Flinn,directors said they could not explain the share price rise.
But, later that day, the ASX discovered the Internet interview, suspended
Adelong`s shares and demanded an explanation. Adelong shares were still
suspended yesterday despite a four-page response from Adelong in which it
denied most of the issues raised in the interview. Mr Manners resigned from the board on Monday. At issue is the ASX`s listing rule 3.1 which says that
companies must disclose any share-price sensitive matters to all market
participants. Yesterday Mr Lewis said the ASX was reviewing Adelong`s
response, claiming none of the other Adelong directors had known of the
contents of Mr Manners`s interview. The response also said Mr Manners claimed the published interview (which was translated into English last week) had differed "in a number of material respects" from what he actually said. However, Mr Lewis said Mr Manners had perhaps been a little too effusive.
"He just let his mouth take over from his mind. He is very enthusiastic
and he just was too enthusiastic about what he said," Mr Lewis said yesterday.
"He made up a couple of things that he might have thought could happen."
Mr Lewis said Mr Manners had told Mr Flinn about "an interview" but
"nobody took any notice". "We knew there was a lot of buying pressure from
Germany but the stock had started to move before January 14, when the interview was published. " He [Mr Manners] resigned of his own volition. He considered his position in the light of what he had done." Mr Manners could not be contacted yesterday. The translation of the interview quotes Mr Manners saying: Adelong was "close to the finalisation of shares in 12 Internet companies. "A further 19 start-up companies were already being analysed for 5 months" and it was "very confident to announce shortly a very exciting co-operation with one largest American Internet names on the market".
It was also expecting "a large American, Asian or European Internet portal
or a venture capital company will soon buy a large share of Adelong" ...
"possibly ... with a share price of at least 2 to 3 euro. Three Adelong
directors - Mr Garry Crole, Mr Clive McKee, the board representative of major shareholder, Pacific Rim Investments, and Mr Lewis - sold down their
personal holdings of Adelong shares during the period between the
interview being published and the halt in trading.
All three directors yesterday denied they had known about the interview
until the ASX raisedit. Mr McKee reduced his holding from 750,000 shares to 50,000 at prices between 40c and 70c, while Mr Crole sold down from 800,000 to 100,000 for between 30c and 60c. Mr Lewis converted 200,000 share options, with a strike price of 25c, before selling them on market around the $1 mark.
"I just thought the price was too high, the share price was running for
reasons unbeknownst to me," Mr Crole said. ASIC cracks the whip
By LACHLAN JOHNSTON
Page 21 ( 561 words )
Wednesday, 02 Feb 2000
>From section: Business
Directors of volatile mining and Internet stocks have been put on notice
by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) to disclose
price-sensitive information promptly or face involuntary suspension. The craze for junior miners to convert to the Internet combined with the growth in day trading has seen dozens of companies clock up unexplained surges in price and trading volumes. To bring more order ASIC has toughened the enforcement of the Australian Stock Exchange`s disclosure rules with a new
joint-surveillance program. The continuous disclosure rules require companies listed on the ASX to reveal price-sensitive information to the market in a timely manner. But the authorities believe the rules have been openly flouted in recent times. The new surveillance program will see ASIC act as a secondary policeman to the ASX, ``auditing" companies that have made unsatisfactory responses to ASX queries.
Several small mining and high-tech companies queried by the ASX in recent
times for erratic share price rises could expect an approach from ASIC,
sources said yesterday. ``In many cases the company`s response is a short reply to the effect that the company is not aware of any reason for the price and volume movement," ASIC said in a statement yesterday.
``ASX and ASIC believe a pattern is emerging where the unexplained price
and volume movements continue for a fortnight or so, only to be brought to an end by the release of information to the market by the company." Two
companies, Deepgreen Minerals and miner-turned-Internet investor, Adelong
Capital,have attracted multiple queries from the ASX in the past week.
Deepgreen shares have risen from 1.7c to 5c in the past six trading days,
as speculation mounted it was set to go down the Internet road. More than 1
billion shares, or the equivalent of its entire issued capital, have changed
hands in the past four trading days. Deepgreen said yesterday it would not
change its status.
Adelong Capital (formerly gold miner Adelong Consolidated) surged 239 per
cent in the two weeks before it was suspended last Thursday, pending its
response to an ASX query. Its response last Thursday said it had no ``matters of importance" to announce. The ASX maintained the suspension and issued a second query, to which Adelong responded yesterday.
The response blamed the share price rise on comments by non-executive
director Mr Craig Manners on a German Internet chat site. Mr Manners resigned as a director on Monday. Under the surveillance program, the ASX will first query a company about share price movements, and if unsatisfied with the response, the exchange will refer the matter to ASIC for a private audit.
ASIC will send a letter with ``structured and pointed" questions to the
companies, including any pending deals, share trading by directors or senior
management and upcoming profits. If there is no reply within 24 hours, the
companies will be visited by ASIC investigators and their shares might be
suspended from trading. ASIC will convey any information discovered to the ASX officers, who will decide whether it needs to be revealed to the market.
ASIC national enforcement director Mr Joe Longo said, ``The ASX has
certain limitations on its power in making enquiries of companies. We have
agreed that once they feel they have done as much as they can we will take it a step further." ``We have much more intrusive surveillance powers." Mr Longo said the ASX did not have jurisdiction to punish companies after they had announced information to the market, even if the company had evaded ASX queries in the prior weeks. Mr Longo said the behaviour of some of the mining and high-tech companies had prompted the program, and they would be closely watched. ``There has been a few companies that keep coming up," Mr Longo said.``At the end of the day the point of the exercise is that the ASX price queries are taken seriously and some of these companies don`t appear to be doing that."
BUSINESS
Director ran off at the mouth
By LACHLAN JOHNSTON
Former Adelong Capital director, Mr Craig Manners, let his
"mouth take over from his mind" when he told a German-based Internet chat
room that the miner-turned-technology investor could be worth more than
$1 billion. Adelong chairman Mr Stanley Lewis yesterday said Mr Manners, a
merchant banker at DD Tolhurst, had probably been "too enthusiastic in the
interview, which triggered a dramatic surge in Adelong`s share price and
landed the group in trouble with the Australian Stock Exchange.
In the interview, published in German on the www.wallstreet-online.de
website, Mr Manners is reported saying some major Internet "names" from the US,Europe and/or Asia were about to invest in Adelong Capital.
He also said the group would spin off its remaining gold assets, had
almost completed investments in 12 Internet companies, and was analysing
another 19 start-ups.
The interview, published on January 14, is believed to have triggered a
wave of buying by European investors, that pushed Adelong shares from 43c to
$1.47, a 240 per cent rise, over eight trading days. About 36 million of the company`s 55 million shares turned over during the time. The share price rise, and some selling of personal shareholdings by three Adelong directors,
including Mr Lewis, attracted the attention of the ASX. It sent an official "please explain" query to the company on January 27.
In a note dated the same day and signed by Adelong director Mr Douglas Flinn,directors said they could not explain the share price rise.
But, later that day, the ASX discovered the Internet interview, suspended
Adelong`s shares and demanded an explanation. Adelong shares were still
suspended yesterday despite a four-page response from Adelong in which it
denied most of the issues raised in the interview. Mr Manners resigned from the board on Monday. At issue is the ASX`s listing rule 3.1 which says that
companies must disclose any share-price sensitive matters to all market
participants. Yesterday Mr Lewis said the ASX was reviewing Adelong`s
response, claiming none of the other Adelong directors had known of the
contents of Mr Manners`s interview. The response also said Mr Manners claimed the published interview (which was translated into English last week) had differed "in a number of material respects" from what he actually said. However, Mr Lewis said Mr Manners had perhaps been a little too effusive.
"He just let his mouth take over from his mind. He is very enthusiastic
and he just was too enthusiastic about what he said," Mr Lewis said yesterday.
"He made up a couple of things that he might have thought could happen."
Mr Lewis said Mr Manners had told Mr Flinn about "an interview" but
"nobody took any notice". "We knew there was a lot of buying pressure from
Germany but the stock had started to move before January 14, when the interview was published. " He [Mr Manners] resigned of his own volition. He considered his position in the light of what he had done." Mr Manners could not be contacted yesterday. The translation of the interview quotes Mr Manners saying: Adelong was "close to the finalisation of shares in 12 Internet companies. "A further 19 start-up companies were already being analysed for 5 months" and it was "very confident to announce shortly a very exciting co-operation with one largest American Internet names on the market".
It was also expecting "a large American, Asian or European Internet portal
or a venture capital company will soon buy a large share of Adelong" ...
"possibly ... with a share price of at least 2 to 3 euro. Three Adelong
directors - Mr Garry Crole, Mr Clive McKee, the board representative of major shareholder, Pacific Rim Investments, and Mr Lewis - sold down their
personal holdings of Adelong shares during the period between the
interview being published and the halt in trading.
All three directors yesterday denied they had known about the interview
until the ASX raisedit. Mr McKee reduced his holding from 750,000 shares to 50,000 at prices between 40c and 70c, while Mr Crole sold down from 800,000 to 100,000 for between 30c and 60c. Mr Lewis converted 200,000 share options, with a strike price of 25c, before selling them on market around the $1 mark.
"I just thought the price was too high, the share price was running for
reasons unbeknownst to me," Mr Crole said. ASIC cracks the whip
By LACHLAN JOHNSTON
Page 21 ( 561 words )
Wednesday, 02 Feb 2000
>From section: Business
Directors of volatile mining and Internet stocks have been put on notice
by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) to disclose
price-sensitive information promptly or face involuntary suspension. The craze for junior miners to convert to the Internet combined with the growth in day trading has seen dozens of companies clock up unexplained surges in price and trading volumes. To bring more order ASIC has toughened the enforcement of the Australian Stock Exchange`s disclosure rules with a new
joint-surveillance program. The continuous disclosure rules require companies listed on the ASX to reveal price-sensitive information to the market in a timely manner. But the authorities believe the rules have been openly flouted in recent times. The new surveillance program will see ASIC act as a secondary policeman to the ASX, ``auditing" companies that have made unsatisfactory responses to ASX queries.
Several small mining and high-tech companies queried by the ASX in recent
times for erratic share price rises could expect an approach from ASIC,
sources said yesterday. ``In many cases the company`s response is a short reply to the effect that the company is not aware of any reason for the price and volume movement," ASIC said in a statement yesterday.
``ASX and ASIC believe a pattern is emerging where the unexplained price
and volume movements continue for a fortnight or so, only to be brought to an end by the release of information to the market by the company." Two
companies, Deepgreen Minerals and miner-turned-Internet investor, Adelong
Capital,have attracted multiple queries from the ASX in the past week.
Deepgreen shares have risen from 1.7c to 5c in the past six trading days,
as speculation mounted it was set to go down the Internet road. More than 1
billion shares, or the equivalent of its entire issued capital, have changed
hands in the past four trading days. Deepgreen said yesterday it would not
change its status.
Adelong Capital (formerly gold miner Adelong Consolidated) surged 239 per
cent in the two weeks before it was suspended last Thursday, pending its
response to an ASX query. Its response last Thursday said it had no ``matters of importance" to announce. The ASX maintained the suspension and issued a second query, to which Adelong responded yesterday.
The response blamed the share price rise on comments by non-executive
director Mr Craig Manners on a German Internet chat site. Mr Manners resigned as a director on Monday. Under the surveillance program, the ASX will first query a company about share price movements, and if unsatisfied with the response, the exchange will refer the matter to ASIC for a private audit.
ASIC will send a letter with ``structured and pointed" questions to the
companies, including any pending deals, share trading by directors or senior
management and upcoming profits. If there is no reply within 24 hours, the
companies will be visited by ASIC investigators and their shares might be
suspended from trading. ASIC will convey any information discovered to the ASX officers, who will decide whether it needs to be revealed to the market.
ASIC national enforcement director Mr Joe Longo said, ``The ASX has
certain limitations on its power in making enquiries of companies. We have
agreed that once they feel they have done as much as they can we will take it a step further." ``We have much more intrusive surveillance powers." Mr Longo said the ASX did not have jurisdiction to punish companies after they had announced information to the market, even if the company had evaded ASX queries in the prior weeks. Mr Longo said the behaviour of some of the mining and high-tech companies had prompted the program, and they would be closely watched. ``There has been a few companies that keep coming up," Mr Longo said.``At the end of the day the point of the exercise is that the ASX price queries are taken seriously and some of these companies don`t appear to be doing that."
