Article from the AFR below….the water is always murky when it...

Article from the AFR below….the water is always murky when it comes to YPB and management cannot be trusted (IMO).

Not a good look when you release a positive announcement and ASIC confirms it is watching closely…YPBs track record catching up with them IMO.

ARTICLE:

“The corporate regulator has taken the unprecedented step of posting a message in a Telegram chat room to warn traders they may be breaking the law.In a post on Monday at 9.32am on a newly formed chat group called “Pump and Dump Organization,” an account named ASIC posted that “coordinated pumping of shares can be illegal”.“We can see all trades and have access to trader identities. We’re monitoring this platform and we may be investigating you. You run the risk of a criminal record, including fines of more than $1M and prison time by being involved.”The post was not taken seriously. One user said the post was sent by someone “from another telegram group trying to spook people here. ASIC don’t send messages like this.” Another said it was “fake ASIC.”But an ASIC spokesman confirmed the post was genuine, marking new ground for the corporate watchdog.“As has been foreshadowed, ASIC has been concerned at the increasing amount of so-called ‘pump and dump’ activity, which is driven on a number of social media platforms and which will ultimately prey on the vulnerable and the gullible who participate,” the spokesman said.“ASIC monitors these platforms and markets in real time and will intervene to alert those involved they may be in breach of the law.”Undeterred, the group pressed on.

At 9.54am, members were told the stock the group was going to pump was YPB Group, which has a market capitalisation of $14 million.“USE THE MARKET ORDER AND SEND IT TO THE SKY!!” the moderator’s post said just before markets opened for trading.While the ASIC post was later removed from the feed. The regulator confirmed it did not remove the post or ask for it to be removed.In early trade, the stock leapt 0.02¢, or 50 per cent to 0.06¢. YPB was previously the subject of booster activity in the ASX Stock Tips Facebook group in July 2020 when the moderator of the group told members: “This STOCK is about to FLY. Don’t CRY when it does.”YPB’s share price moves have been the subject of six ASX queries since July last year. It has also been promoted via online share discussion forum HotCopper, which on Tuesday distributed an email to its users about a patent grant over YPB’s “smartphone and anti-counterfeit technology.”As of 11.40am AEST, the Telegram group had 299 members, and 59 were online. However, posting slowed significantly after ASIC’s message. The Australian Financial Review’s report confirming ASIC’s intervention was met with scorn. “If that was ASIC they would have put a name to it. Surely ASIC has better things to do than harass 300 people on Telegram,” said one vocal member.Last month, ASIC said in a statement it was monitoring a “concerning trend” of social media posts being used to co-ordinate “pump and dump” trading in listed equites, telling the public they faced jail time and large fines.It came after The Australian Financial Review reported on messaging groups on the encrypted app Telegram named ASX Pump and Dump Channel and ASX Pump and Dump Group, which boasted about 1600 members and regularly posted messages referencing other penny stocks or sharemarket chat forums.Some of those groups have now been closed down, but new chat groups are forming.

The ASX is particularly prone to pump and dump activity because of a long-tail of hundreds of thinly traded stocks of small companies such as junior explorers, where small volumes of trading can significantly move share prices.Monitoring activity in various online forums including encrypted chat rooms is a nearly impossible task, but the regulator’s direct posting of messages into sharemarket forums is a sign it’s prepared to break new territory to perform its market surveillance and enforcement functions.“

Ends.