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SLK ACTION CAMPAIGN 2005

“All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.” Edmund Burke (English Philosopher and Irish Politician)

IMPORTANT NEWS TO ALL SHAREHOLDERS AND THE PRESS!

WE URGENTLY NEED YOUR ASSISTANCE.

The SmartLogik Action Group has been advised by a leading UK shareholder association that shareholders now need to write letters and/or e-mail to a number of organisations, including the press. This is needed to ensure that the relevant authorities hear our complaints about SmartLogik Group plc. So far, this company has been allowed to get away with such poor corporate governance that it makes a mockery of UK company law. It has affected thousands of people who trusted their money with this company, not only in the UK, but also in the USA and worldwide. It is an example of how poor corporate governance at a  company in the UK can affect people in the USA and elsewhere. In America, they have significantly tightened up the law on corporate governance (Sarbanes-Oxley Act), but the SmartLogik case shows that there is still a laissez-faire approach to this in the UK. In these troubled times, we should be continually striving to demonstrate the highest standards of integrity and accountability to the rest of the world.

The purpose of this important campaign is to make sure that the persons responsible for allowing the waiver to happen - granted by the UK Listing Authority under advice from Hoare Govett - are put under pressure and brought to account. All of us need to take action by communicating our sense of outrage at this injustice and complete lack of accountability. This campaign is now needed to get the Financial Services Authority (FSA) to act. Let them know that your letters and e-mails are being copied to other organisations and also to the press. Tell them that in early 2005, we made a request to the UK Listing Authority under the Freedom of Information Act, but that they refused to provide any information at all.

Tens of thousands of shareholders were disenfranchised by the granting of this waiver by the UK Listing Authority. It enabled SmartLogik to “play the law” and avoid, by just one day, having to publish audited accounts for the business. As a result, the shareholders still have no idea what happened to their money and, the valuable core assets were sold by BDO Stoy Hayward at an extremely low price without firstly consulting the shareholders in an EGM. We are all left wondering what exactly were they trying to hide and was the sale without shareholder approval actually illegal?

Shareholders now need to write letters or e-mail to the following organisations and copy their letters to the press (see press contacts below). Refer them to this web site for further information. We want to get maximum impact and this will require a concerted campaign by ALL shareholders. If you are not a SmartLogik shareholder, we would simply point out that this case is critical for setting the standards for good corporate governance in the UK, ultimately affecting all investors in the stock market and, indeed, anyone with a pension or job. So, please do write to voice your concerns.

Please write to the following (click on the organisation name to see their contact details). We suggest an official complaint to the FSA and separate letters to the other organisations listed below to tell them that we are complaining to the FSA.

1. Financial Services Authority. The FSA oversees the UK Listing Authority and regulates the financial markets. You can complete their online complaint form (click here). Ask them why the UK Listing Authority has refused to provide any information under the Freedom of Information request made by the SmartLogik Action Group on 4th March 2005 (the complaint has to be received within 12 months of the event, so please do it now!). Also, ask them why the UK Listing Authority was allowed to disenfranchise tens of thousands of shareholders by the granting of the waiver to the board of SmartLogik. Ask for clarification over the exact role played by Hoare Govett, who were also sitting on the board of the UK Listing Authority at the time of the waiver. Ask them why SmartLogik, a public limited company fully listed on the LSE and NASDAQ stock exchanges, was allowed to get away without publishing independently audited accounts. Tell them that the shareholders still have no idea what happened to their money and that this case does not give investors any confidence in the markets regulated by the FSA. Tell them to get their house in order and also tell them that you are writing to the organisations listed below.
2. National Association of Pension Funds. This body has considerable influence in the UK. It stands for the highest standards of corporate governance; tell them what happened at SmartLogik and that we are now complaining to the FSA. Tell them that one of their largest members, Shell Pension Fund, was a major institutional shareholder of SmartLogik and will no doubt be interested in recovering their lost millions. In addition, many individual shareholders were investing for their retirement.
3. Constituency MP’s. UK shareholders write to your consituency Member of Parliament again or, if you have not already done it, please do so now.
4. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). If you invested through the NASDAQ stock exchange in New York or live in the USA, please file a complaint to the SEC.
5. House of Representatives. US shareholders please write to your Congressperson about this case.
6. Eliot Spitzer. E-mail the Spitzer2006 campaign team at Spitzer@spitzer2006.com. Ask them to let Eliot know we are continuing the fight for shareholder rights! Wish him good luck in his campaign to become the next Governor of New York. We all need him, because he stands for integrity, accountability, opportunity and New York.
7. Department of Trade and Industry (DTI). In particular, you can make a submission to the Company Law Review (Corporate Law and Governance) that has been taking place in 2005 - it’s never too late to improve UK Corporate Governance!
8. Ernst & Young - the official administrator of SmartLogik. E-mail Liz Bingham at lbingham@UK.EY.COM. Ask her why Ernst & Young will not allow the shareholders to see the SmartLogik financial accounts that are now under their control. Remind her that audited financial accounts for the SmartLogik business were never released and that this represents some sort of record for a UK public limited company fully listed on the LSE and NASDAQ stock exchanges.

Press Contacts:

1. Associated Press. This is the largest and oldest news organisation in the world, based in New York. They should be interested in this story, which is all about shareholders fighting for their fundamental rights against the powerful City of London with it’s vested interests. The financial press in the UK is dominated by the FT and Reuters, who are heavily influenced by the City of London - it may be worth contacting them.
2. New York Times. It is possible that more progress may be made with the press in the USA.
3. New York Post.
4. Washington Post.
5. The Times.
6. Daily Express.
7. Guardian and Observer.
8. Daily Mail.
9. BBC Panorama.

Now it’s over to you, the reader of this page, to take the above actions. Please don’t assume others will do it for you. The SmartLogik Action Group, which was formed by shareholders for all the shareholders, needs each and every shareholder in the UK, USA and worldwide to act now. People power works and together we can overcome the odds. Ask your friends to help. This is your chance to make it happen!

SmartLogik Action Group - Where do our visitors come from?

New! This dynamic geolocation application looks up the longitude and latitude of your computers’ IP address and plots your position on a world map (you are the white dot). It also records in a database everyone who has visited this page and shows them as red dots. Hover your mouse over the map for more information on each visitor. Over time the map will get populated with points showing the international reach of the SmartLogik Action Group!