Quote:
Originally Posted by Todd Terry
Total speculation obviously but:
FTP will trot out the same routine: we need more time to find a purchaser and it's in the best interests of the players that we sell the company. What's the AGCC going to say other than, "OK, go ahead"? They don't want to be seen as preventing a potential sale, and really there's nothing meaningful that they can do anyway.
Disagree about 110% (also speculation btw)
At the time of the last "hearing", the vibes of "we have an investor oh so close to signing up" were heating up the wires worldwide.
The thinking was, all the sht would come out and kill the deal.
That ship has already sailed imo. All their sht is going to come out anyway (small parts of it are already out there) and they know this. Any "investor" who has they keys to ~$400mm should know how to accomplish a decent due diligence. Too many people are watching to be able to hide much now. Even if there was someone willing to try to resurrect FTP in any way, he will have to know about all the skeletons. So using the "don't kill our deal" card has already been overplayed.
OTOH, neither the civil or criminal case has been resolved with the DOJ. Not only will infractions that occured in violation of their AGCC license be made public, they will not be able to either confirm or deny any part of it, because anything they say, one way or the other, could be used against them. Just one more nail imo.The possible withdrawal of J. Ifrah should have no bearing, since he was not the attorney of record having to do with the sale etc.
If they are not able to defend, they fall at the mercy of the AGCC as to continuing the suspension of their license, or revoking.
As long as the hearing takes place, I see no problem with continuing in the "suspended" state, which is enough not to kill any pending deal, although there is no reason to believe any "sale" is imminent any longer, nor have they said so in any court iirc.
The AGCC has an obligation to be sure the hearing takes place and in public. They are obligated to put forth how many warnings were given out, and when, as well as how either they were hoodwinked with false documents over time, or they were complicit in turning a blind eye. While no matter which way that spins, they can never come out smelling like a rose, but they have to consider repercussions against themselves as well (white listing being the least of their potential problems).
If they have clean hands, they don't need to save FTP. They have enough other clients and their future to think about.
If their hands are dirty, no delay has enough soap in it to clean them up.
JMHO