Austin, Texas [February 10, 2020] (ORIGINAL: BUSINESS WIRE) – Phunware, Inc. (NASDAQ: PHUN) (the “Company”), a fully-integrated enterprise cloud platform for mobile that provides products, solutions, data and services for brands worldwide, today announced that it has engaged a leading provider of Regulation SHO compliance monitoring, short sale trading statistics and market integrity surveillance to review the trading irregularities in its stock and to properly report parties to regulators where violations of law have occurred.
Phunware is concerned that the Company and its shareholders are being victimized by manipulative trading practices and abusive naked short selling with the objective of systematically lowering the PHUN share price.
Last July, Phunware engaged ShareIntel – Shareholder Intelligence Services to track market participants and analyze share ownership data on Nasdaq for Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) market compliance. Since then, Phunware has been compiling data and evidence on offending parties in order to enforce compliance by not only filing formal complaints with Nasdaq, the SEC and FINRA, but also by exploring direct legal action.
“Unrestricted short selling can exacerbate a declining market in a security by increasing pressure from the sell-side, eliminating bids [by executing against them] and causing a further reduction in the price of a security by creating an appearance that the security price is falling for fundamental reasons even where there is no fundamental basis for a price decline,” according to an SEC release.
The steps taken by the Company at this time to ensure short positions are covered include, but are not limited to:
- Analyzing Non-Objecting Beneficial Owner (NOBO) lists to calculate share imbalances
- Identifying trading institutions with gross share imbalances
- Sending notices of imbalances to institutional compliance officers
- Sending notices of imbalances to the Nasdaq’s Investigation and Enforcement Team
The Company has also engaged the Nasdaq’s Investigation and Enforcement Team, the SEC and FINRA to coordinate next steps in compliance enforcement.
“We will not tolerate value being stolen from our shareholders by well-organized groups engaging in what we believe is potentially illegal activity,” said Matt Aune, CFO of Phunware. “We are in the process of addressing these issues and exploring all available options including bringing direct legal action against any offending parties.”
Phunware has begun to register complaints related to these activities with Nasdaq, the SEC and FINRA. The Company encourages PHUN shareholders who believe they have been harmed by their trading institutions and market manipulation to file formal complaints as well:
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About Phunware, Inc.
Everything You Need to Succeed on Mobile — Transforming Digital Human Experience
Phunware, Inc. (NASDAQ: PHUN), is the pioneer of Multiscreen-as-a-Service (MaaS), an award-winning, fully integrated enterprise cloud platform for mobile that provides companies the products, solutions, data and services necessary to engage, manage and monetize their mobile application portfolios and audiences globally at scale. Phunware’s Software Development Kits (SDKs) include location-based services, mobile engagement, content management, messaging, advertising, loyalty (PhunCoin & Phun) and analytics, as well as a mobile application framework of pre-integrated iOS and Android software modules for building in-house or channel-based mobile application and vertical solutions. Phunware helps the world’s most respected brands create category-defining mobile experiences, with more than one billion active devices touching its platform each month. For more information about how Phunware is transforming the way consumers and brands interact with mobile in the virtual and physical worlds, visit https://www.phunware.com, https://www.phuncoin.com, https://www.phuntoken.com, and follow @phunware, @phuncoin and @phuntoken on all social media platforms.
