By Michael Mullings, Chief Compliance Officer
Approximately five years ago, Continental took notice that an increasing number of our client issuers were requesting Control Book reports of issued and outstanding shares on schedules, some weekly, monthly and quarterly, mostly to reconcile outstanding shares not only for upcoming corporate actions (dividends, stock splits, etc.), annual meetings, or quarterly SEC filings, but for everyday reconciliations. As a result, we created a state-of-the-art ControlBook Reporting system which allows authorized issuer personnel to create “real time” reports to track Issued and outstanding shares for their common or ordinary Shares, Treasury and associated Reserve balances plus any related restricted unvested common shares and convertible securities (Preferred, Warrants, Debentures, etc.).
Instead of developing a system like most of our competitors that makes reports available the next business day (caused by a required updating of the files overnight), we went the extra step and developed a web-based reporting system which allows “real time” reports at any time, 24/7, and without restrictions. Authorized representatives now have direct access via our website to check outstanding shares or produce reports of any kind between any required date range, from inception of our services to current date. Clients will have the option of paging through detailed reports online or exporting and printing PDF and/or Microsoft Excel reports which will reference detailed descriptions of each line item reflecting the date of the instructions, the date of processing, transaction description with shareholder reference, sequence numbers (if provided), and the corresponding changes in the Issued and Authorized shares and Reserve balances (if any); in other words, these reports should make reconciliation a breeze. The system is proprietary and was designed in house and enhanced after months of testing and valuable insights from our issuers and partners. Authorized personnel will be provided with credentials that will include setting their own passwords via a secure login using SSL encryption.
In the development stage, we stressed the need for the designers to make the system user-friendly and user-focused, concentrating on:
1. Simplicity and accuracy
2. Accessibility
3. Intuitive navigation
4. Aesthetics
5. Basic and detailed information.
The designers exceeded our set goals and the system is first rate in every way; it is easy to use and separates us from our competitors. The feedback from the users has been fantastic particularly as it relates to ease of use and the fact that the application is real time. The initial design was so thorough and inclusive that the need to make enhancements has been minimal.
Currently about sixty percent of our client base are enjoying the advantages of ControlBook Reporting.
If you do not already have access or were previously unaware of the existence of this application, please communicate with your Relationship Manager to get access credentials and to start getting involved in tracking “real time” changes in your outstanding shares.
For some of our computer challenged partners, we also created a four minute tutorial which shows how easy it is to use the application. The tutorial will be provided when access credentials are granted.
GET STARTED NOW and contact your assigned Relationship Manager.
