November 23, 2016
Rules applicable to a corporation's transfer agent need to clearly indicate that the transfer agent must
- have current up to date corporate share structure information, and
- make such data readily available electronically to all interested parties in real time at no charge, and
- make such data available in a convenient commonly used format, and
- assure that such information is kept up to date, is accurate and complete.
There are too many instances of small cap companies that try to deceive shareholders by "gagging the transfer agent" by keeping real time corporate share count from the investors. This can effectively serve to dilute current share holders into oblivion by virtue of the fact that under such circumstances the investor cannot make timely and informed decisions regarding his investment(s). Some company executives believe it is more than adequate to only report on outstanding share count in the SEC required quarterly reports - but a lot can happen in between those reports and the value of a shareholder's investment can be wiped out if the corporate management teams refuse or otherwise fail to report such material events properly. The role of the transfer agent is an important part of a system of checks and balances that help assure an important fiduciary responsibility is performed for the investing public in a reliable, trustworthy manner.