BIB Holdings, Ltd. Addresses Unauthorized Listing on the Berlin Stock Exchange
Thursday May 27, 8:30 am ETNEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 27, 2004--BIB Holdings, Ltd. (OTCBB: BIBO - News) announced today it learned that it is one of many publicly traded companies whose stock has been listed on the Berlin-Bremen Stock Exchange without the company's prior knowledge, consent or authorization.
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The company has directed its counsel to immediately contact officials at the Berlin-Bremen Stock Exchange to demand its immediate delisting, and is now considering its options to pursue appropriate remedies against the domestic and foreign brokerage firms responsible for this unauthorized listing.
According to various accounts in the media, the listings appear to be part of an effort by domestic and foreign brokers to circumvent the recent NASD and SEC restrictions against "naked short selling." Short selling is a trading practice whereby investors borrow stock from a broker to sell with the hope that the stock price will decline before they have to return the shares back to cover their position. Naked shorting involves groups of people working together to manipulate the market by selling fictitious shares of stock in an effort to force a company's share price to go down. By listing the company's common stock on the Berlin-Bremen Stock Exchange, market manipulators may have sought the benefit of an "arbitrage" loophole that none of the present regulations are designed to close.
BIB Holdings CEO Gail Binder stated, "Recent trading activity in our company's stock caused our management, counsel, and consultants to investigate market trading activity. We were shocked and dismayed to learn that our company's stock was listed for trading on Berlin-Bremen Stock Exchange without our prior knowledge or consent. Based on media accounts, there are hundreds of companies in the same situation as we are, and we believe that an explanation for this is that individuals are using the arbitrage loophole illegally to engage in naked short selling, which may have had significant negative repercussions on the market price of our stock.
"We intend to follow the lead of other companies listed on the Berlin-Bremen Stock Exchange, all without prior authorization, in demanding both delisting and evidence of the individuals and firms that were ultimately behind the unauthorized listings," Binder added. "Investors interested in purchasing shares of BIBO should only purchase their shares from the NASD Over The Counter Bulletin Board (OTCBB) under the symbol, BIBO, as shares traded on the Berlin-Bremen Stock Exchange or any other foreign exchange are not currently recognized by BIB Holdings, Ltd."
About BIB Holdings
BIB Holdings, Ltd. designs, manufactures, imports, sells and markets branded and non-branded apparel. The company has a showroom in New York, a distribution center in Pennsylvania and a distribution center in Las Vegas, within a Foreign Trade Zone. The company designs, sources and markets a brand of high-quality jeanswear and apparel under the mSasson, Home Turf and New Terrain labels as well as private label. Product lines have included jeanswear, sportswear, underwear, loungewear and outerwear, as well as accessories such as suspenders, ties, hats, scarves, gloves, jewelry, backpacks and small leather goods. BIB Holdings, Ltd. distributes its clothing via leading retailers throughout the United States and abroad. BIB has an exclusive multiyear license agreement with MARK TM, LLC to design, manufacture, promote and sell apparel under the mSasson brand name throughout the United States. For more information, visit the company's Web site at www.msasson.com.
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