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He actually bought a very small amount compared to what he owns. It was clearly a way of saying "everything is fine" without actually committing much cash
CEO Dunn bought a boatload of shares at 18p after announcing this debacle. If that's not playing down (misleading) the seriousness of this situation, I don't know what is.
Hi Pianista, apologies that I misinterpreted your motives, it's just that I thought I perceived a habit of yours to contradict any moans made about DX.
It may be FJ. I've been investing a long time have learnt a lot. Self interest is paramount and no one has the interests of the private investor at heart. The private investor is essentially used on the AIM. That is my belief so you have to play the game. I read so many posts from private investors moaning about the Aim, lies , constant fund raising, dilution etc. The Aim was set up specifically by the London Stock Exchange so small companies could raise money on capital markets. We shouldn't be surprised by any shenanigans that goes on.
I agree with Alas, the FCA are generally regarded as worse than useless, and I wouldn’t rely on them to investigate anything based only on a suspicion.
Thanks for the link though, FJ. It’s good to see someone get his come-uppance, but sadly it’s just one case out of countless others where no action is taken. In the case cited, the company itself admitted via RNS that cash had been massively overstated by the CFO. The FCA merely had to tick through the numbers.
On the other hand, “playing down the governance issue” is much more subjective, and inherently more difficult to prove. It depends on the facts though. Maybe there are people outside the company who are familiar with all the relevant facts, but I’m not one of them.
"Just have to accept it and play the game." That's rather defeatist. It's not as if it's a lot of effort to write a short letter to the FCA. Perhaps it would be fruitless but you don't know until you try.
Of course anyone can take any action they wish to. But taking action is normally pretty fruitless in my opinion. I read many posts from private investors ( no disrespect to anyone) on all sorts of discussion boards who expect companies to act in a manner they want them to ....... constant communication.. regular updates, complete transparency as if they were running the company. That's a perfect world and it doesn't exist. In all companies mistakes are made, people tell half truths, use flowery language, hide bad news.etc, etc. People in power and those with money always win. The system supports it.There is no doubt that DX have not acted in a manner that we would expect but in my opinion we are fooling ourselves if we think we can change anything. Just have to accept it and play the game.
FJ: trying to establish and understand the facts is not being an apologist. I'm just a worried investor, but I haven't lost anything yet (except a lot sleep), and haven't lost hope of a good outcome. But if ultimately I do lose money, I'll be the first to take legal action, I can assure you.
If it is of any consolation the FCA are utterly useless in the matter of suspension and delisting. As a minority sharehoder I made investment in Graphene Nanochem plc. Shares were suspended for the technical reason that it was unable to provide accounts. I provided evidence in the guise of RNS statements issued by the company of all the deals, MOU's and agreements in place for the period of 3 years, all of which was little more than a tissue of lies. No action was taken by the FCA either against the company, its directors of the auditors. Complaint was also made of the NOMAD that seemed to me to be in breach of its duty. I believe that they were embarassed to be associated with that company, but no action (that I could evidence) was taken there either.
The FCA website has all the information that you can use. You simply need to challenge that the rules for listing are questioned and the grounds on which you raise your concern.
Good luck.
For my part, I was persuaded to use DX as a carrier. It lasted just 5 months - they had been courting work from my company for years - as, aside from failing to deliver goods on the following day to 30% of addresses, there was an element of "stock evaporation" that was far higher than had been in ALL the goods delivered in the previous 8 years aggregated. My temper finally snapped when I wrote to Mr Dunn spelling out the appalling service and that there would be one change to improve. I did not have the dignity of reply so I elevated the matter to the investor relations team.
After some smoothing words, I agreed to send 1 consignment to Diageo - the return of a case of alcohol surplus to that provided in a promotion. The consignment failed to deliver and miraculously every bottle diappeared, the claim being that it had fallen off a conveyor.
Our account is tiny in comparison with some, sending between 50,000 and 70,000 parcels annually. The service is shocking, the level of theft high and, quite frankly the executive team are out of their depth and have no business in managing a quoted company. Good luck though - It did give me some pleasure in writing my complaint to the FCA, though I would have preferred not to have had to take a loss of ÂŁ36,000 from my investment as it was made within an ISA wrapper and thus no tax advantage to mitigate in future years.
@Frogjumper .... could you please paste here copy to FCA of your letter - ? (Without your personal details obviously) to inspire me on what precisely to write
Those who have are writing/have written to FCA as suggested, could they please paste copy of their letters here please (0bviously without their personal details), so that we can have a better idea how to draft our own letters?
Pianista: Why do you always sound like an apologist for DX? Do you work for them? Here's a link to an instance where the FCA has taken action against a director not in the FS industry: https://www.fca.org.uk/news/press-releases/former-redcentric-cfo-sentenced-five-and-half-years-imprisonment. And I don't know how serious the governance issue is but if DX has been playing down the seriousness then they would be misleading the market. I don't need proof in order to refer the matter to the FCA, it would be for the FCA to obtain the proof. All I need is a reasonable suspicion.
FJ: You can't say they played down the seriousness unless you know how serious it really was. I for one have no idea how serious it really was. Mere suspicion is not enough.
I mean, it's conceivable that the auditors have made a meal of this, and that if we delist it would essentially be down to them. Who knows?
LCP: "The FCA live for criminally sanctioning directors etc".
I'd like to think that was true, but I'm personally not aware of any plc director having been criminally sanctioned by the FCA (apart from directors in the financial services industry).
I'm happy to be put right though. Perhaps you could give one example where it has actually happened?
That's for the FCA to investigate. It's a pretty big deal a company of this size being forceably delisted so it would be pretty high in their agenda to make sure there wasn't dodgy dealings going on. They've been embarrassed a few times recently so would want to avoid another.
If for example Gatemore have been saying the share price should be above 50, then they say this issue isn't big, it should never have gotten to this stage, then demand a seat the board, then allow then delisting then suddenly make an offer of 10p per share, you know it's a stitch up and so will the FCA. The FCA live for criminally sanctioning directors etc, fantastic deterrent for everyone else.
"what direct evidence of its seriousness will you be providing to the FCA?" It would be enough to say that the management played down the seriousness of the governance issue, instilling a false sense of confidence in the business and persuading the shareholders not to sell their shares.
Many of us certainly suspect that the governance issue was played down, but what direct evidence of its seriousness will you be providing to the FCA?
Let us know, and I’m sure many here will gladly join you.
I for one will be writing to the FCA. After the governance issue was first raised there was an effort to play down how serious it was by management and other connected parties. There was time to sell before the suspension if we hadn't been fed BS. The proof is in the pudding..and if we are screwed somehow with a cheap deal involving mgt or those connected parties then it STINKS. Best to get the warning and story in to the FCA BEFORE it happens. More the merrier, make some noise.