Investor Advocacy

asensio.com played a seminal role in developing activist short investing and in distributing short-focused investment research via the internet. For nearly two decades, asensio.com has confronted cases of public companies making misrepresentations to investors. Securities regulation was not something that asensio.com sought to become involved with per se, but the need for improved investor protection – and consequently improved regulation – was a natural outgrowth of a broader public dialogue on short-selling. The public advocacy of short theses by asensio.com and its founder Manuel P Asensio came to entail an advocacy of investors’ rights, improved safeguards against stock fraud, and the benefits of short-selling in driving price discovery and market efficiency. Public advocacy of a short thesis means swimming against the tide of the institutional apparatus for investment information (including the press, regulators, and sell-side analysts), which tends to be deferential to issuer companies and their executives. Investor advocacy – and with it, the attempt to make short-selling less controversial – became a necessary part of working with the investment information apparatus. asensio.com’s investment research and investor advocacy reporting together have played a role in major regulatory developments. Below are some examples reporting related to asensio.com’s investor advocacy work.

No.	Date	Commentaries
29	February 21, 2017	NBER short selling study finds Asensio to be the Pioneer of the “information arbitrage” field.
28	June 10, 2016	Grant Thornton retains counsel in EROS’s “divided responsibility” audit matter.
27	June 9, 2016	asensio.com communicates with the U.S. Securities & Exchange Commission regarding EROS’s latest public statements.
26	June 7, 2016	asensio.com alerts the PCAOB to concerns over Grant Thornton’s audit of Eros International Plc.
25	June 7, 2016	Questions for Grant Thornton in connection with Eros’s divided responsibilty audit
24	April 6, 2011	SEC Commissioner Goes Public about Task Force for Chinese “Vessels of Outright Fraud”
23	March 16, 2011	Global Hunter Securities and its Analyst Ping Luo’s “Pervasive Hatred” Sales Pitch Blindsides Investors
22	January 31, 2011	asensio.com Releases 5 Reports on Chinese Reverse Mergers and NASDAQ.
21	January 31, 2011	CGA Accused of Fraud as the SEC Conducts an Informal Inquiry
20	January 31, 2011	The SEC and Congress Begin “Wide-Scale Investigation” into Chinese Reverse Merger “Junior Madoff Scandal”
19	January 31, 2011	Regulatory Conflicts-of-Interest at the Heart of Chinese “Madoff Scandal”
18	January 31, 2011	The Questionable Involvement of Former Philadelphia Stock Exchange Officials with Benjamin Wey’s Companies.
17	September 30, 2010	The SEC Investigates Fund with Chinese Reverse Merger Investments, while the Financial Times Promotes the Same Fund.
16	July 20, 2010	Disclosure concerning asensio.com Founder’s Role in Government Policy Organization.
15	June 29, 2010	COSO Report on Stock Fraud Validates asensio.com’s Own Experience and findings.
14	December 22, 2009	Bodisen and Wey’s Connections to NASDAQ’s Chinese Reverse Merger Mill Exposed.
13	December 22, 2009	Top Chinese NASDAQ Official’s Resignation Raises Questions about Its Disclosures.
12	December 22, 2009	NASDAQ’s Conflicts in Pegasus and Xu Raise Questions About Its Regulatory Reliability.
11	December 9, 2009	Post-Gazette Publishes Asensio Editorial on FINRA’s Deficiencies.
10	June 27, 2006	10th Anniversary Creation of Activist Short-Selling
9	January 13, 2005	Senator calls for Renkes’ impeachment
8	October 27, 2004	Anchorage Daily News: Renkes works on vow to sell KFx stock, donate profits
7	September 29, 2004	The Globe and Mail: Famous Wall Street short seller softens his demolition man image
6	April 12, 2004	New York Times: Concerns That Nanotech Label Is Overused
5	March 10, 2003	Another AMEX Scam Bites the Dust.
4	December 1, 2001	GAO report released on asensio.com’s AMEX work
3	November 15, 2000	asensio.com aids Congressional investigation into AMEX stock fraud
2	June 12, 1998	Dreyfus fund manager engaged in fraudulent activities.
1	April 9, 1997	A Free Market Solution To Persistent Stock Fraud, by Manuel P. Asensio