http://www.forbes.com/sites/johnwasik/2015/01/02/zombie-stocks-why-you-need-to-avoid-dormant-shell-companies/print/

John WasikContributor

PERSONAL FINANCE 1/02/2015 @ 9:32AM 327 views

Zombie Stocks: Why You Need to Avoid Dormant Shell Companies

Imagine companies that are pretty much left for dead, only to be revived by toxic waste handlers called penny stock promoters. These “dormant shell” companies are corporations in name only. Even though they don’t have any viable business operations, they continue to trade. Here’s how these companies are seemingly brought back to life:

A promoter hawks them to investors, thus pumping up the stock price, then dumps them without telling their customers, who get creamed. It’s a classic “pump and dump” scheme. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and FINRA, the securities industry self-regulator recently warned about these zombie entities. Continue reading →

http://blogs.wsj.com/cfo/2015/01/02/study-going-concern-letters-on-decline-but-that-may-not-be-good/?mod=WSJ_hpp_sections_cfo

January 2, 2015, 9:12 AM ET

Study: ‘Going Concern’ Letters on Decline, But That May Not Be Good

JOHN KESTER

Reporter

Warnings to struggling companies are decreasing, but dead companies can’t be audited.

That’s part of the message from a new Going Concern Report by Audit Analytics. Fewer companies in the 2013 fiscal year saw red flags raised over their ability to continue as a going concern than did during the 2012 fiscal year. But that’s partly because many businesses closed up shop.

Audit Analytics estimates that 2,384 companies received “going concern” warnings for the 2013 fiscal year. That’s nearly a  6% drop from 2012. However, 207 companies that received such warnings in 2012 filed terminations and no longer exist.

“That’s not a good thing…you figure there’s some kind of economic pressure on companies,” said Donald Whalen, director of research at Audit Analytics. “You get a mixed bag if you just simply look at the number of going concern [warnings].” Continue reading →

http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/biz/2015/01/488_170985.html

Updated : 2015-01-02 18:38

Warning issued against L/C fraud

By Kim Jae-won

The Financial Supervisory Service (FSC) said Friday that it warned banks against hoax letters of credit (L/C), purportedly issued in the name of some foreign lenders. “We sent a letter to local lenders and branches of foreign banks to strengthen their process in managing letters of credit,” said an official at the FSC. Woori Bank and several other local banks recently discovered false letters of credit allegedly issued by foreign banks, officials said. Continue reading →