Highlights
- Provided full registered and street ownership data to help a U.S. gaming company comply with UK law following an international acquisition
- Worked closely with the C-suite and outside counsel in both countries to satisfy the foreign regulators’ inquiries
Challenge
EQ Ownership Intelligence (OI) team was tasked with devising solutions for a small-cap gaming company, when it faced the scrutiny of UK regulators upon acquiring a UK-based gambling company. Under UK law, the small-cap gaming company needed to provide the UK Gambling Commission with a complete list of shareholders, including registered and beneficial owners, as of the date of acquisition. While this kind of information is readily available for UK companies due to local legislation that requires brokers to disclose the names of shareholders upon request from the issuer, no such laws exist in the United States. Thus, the small-cap gaming company needed outside help to meet these regulatory obligations.
Solution
EQ OI team supplied the required ownership data, along with a detailed description of how it was obtained. The team worked closely with the company and its local and UK outside counsel to describe the data and the limitations of U.S. disclosure regulation, and presented this information directly to the UK Gambling Commission. The OI team partnered with the company’s C-suite and outside counsel to help shape responses to all additional questions from the UK Gambling Commission.
Results
Thanks to the critical data and consultation provided by EQ Ownership Intelligence team, the small-cap gaming company successfully retained its gambling license in the UK.
About EQ
EQ are specialists in helping you better understand and manage the ownership of your company through critical events across the corporate lifecycle. As trusted advisors, we provide strategic insight and operations expertise through our core business units in Private Company Services, Transfer Agent Services, Employee Plan Solutions, Proxy Services, and Bankruptcy. Globally we serve 6,700 clients (49% of the FTSE 100 UK and 35% of the S&P 500), with over 30 million shareholders, through 6,500 employees in 5 markets around the world.
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