Get in shape or get the boot: ASX gives sportswear maker XPD one month

Tech Melissa Yeo
Get in shape or get the boot: ASX gives sportswear maker XPD one month

The ASX has issued an ultimatum to Chinese soccer boot maker XPD: get your governance in order by March 16 or face removal from the bourse.

It’s the final straw for the company, after it failed to adequately respond to an ASX’s warning last month and following legal action from its major shareholder Mejority Capital (ASX:MJC).

On Monday the ASX set out a comprehensive to-do list for XPD (ASX:XPD). Some items were as simple as appointing a communication representative or registering for the online lodgement of documents through its ASX Online portal.

“If XPD does not do so, ASX will remove XPD from the official list on Friday 16 March 2018 and refer the company and its directors to ASIC for consideration of appropriate regulatory action,” the ASX wrote.

It pointed to emails from directors Mr Lu and Mr Zhang dated February 13 that claimed XPD had signed up to the online portal.

“ASX can confirm that XPD did not at that time have, and still does not have, any active accounts in ASX Online,” it said.

Further, according to the regulator’s letter, the company is yet to address the litigation by Mejority Capital or clarify the holdings of its directors.

Amid the drama, chairman Wayne Reid resigned from his role last week.

The resignation further leaves XPD in breach of the rules in regard to having two directors who reside in Australia.

At the request of XPD’s lawyers, an extension to the deadline was granted this week, from March 2 to March 16.

The controversy dates to October, when the company was pinged for not lodging directors’ interest statements.

In a third letter to the company in December, the ASX spelt out the importance of compliance and penalties for not doing so:

“The fact that an entity associated with the managing director of an ASX listed company is delinquent in complying with its substantial holding notice obligations and that has caused the company to be suspended from trading is wholly unacceptable to ASX.

“A failure to comply can expose the substantial holder to serious criminal penalties and civil sanctions, including the potential loss of the securities they hold.”

XPD shares last traded at 3.3c in October.

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