Quarterly report pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d)

Rescission Liabilities

v2.4.1.9
Rescission Liabilities
6 Months Ended
Nov. 30, 2014
Rescission Liabilities

Note 3—Rescission Liabilities

The Company’s board of directors (the “Board”) was advised by outside legal counsel that compensation the Company previously paid to an employee and certain other non-employees, who were acting as unlicensed, non-exempt broker-dealers soliciting investors on behalf of the Company from April 15, 2008 to February 18, 2011, was a violation of certain state and possibly federal securities laws. As a result, such investors and potentially others have rescission or monetary claims (“Claims”) against the Company, and the Company’s liability for these potential Claims is reflected in the Company’s financial statements. On March 16, 2011, the Company filed a Current Report on Form 8-K disclosing the potential rescission liability (the “Liability Disclosure”).

Rescission rights for individual investors and subscribers vary, based upon the laws of the states in which the investors or subscribers reside. Investments and subscriptions that are subject to rescission are recorded separately in our financial statements from shareholders’ equity in the Company’s balance sheet. As the statutory periods for pursuing such rights expire in the respective states, such amounts for those shares have been reclassified to shareholders’ equity. Investors who have sold their shares of capital stock of the Company do not have rescission rights, but instead have claims for damages, to the extent their shares were sold at a net loss, which is determined by subtracting the purchase price plus statutory interest and costs, if any, from the sale price.

 

The Company estimated an amount that is a probable indicator of the rescission liability and recorded rescission liabilities for both November 30, 2014 and May 31, 2014 of $378,000. This amount represents the believed remaining potential rescission liability as of the dates presented to investors who pursue their rescission rights and forfeit their shares. For the purpose of calculating and disclosing rescission liability, the Company has assumed that portions of the state Claims are barred by the statutes of limitations of certain states based upon a literal interpretation of the applicable statute. Although the Company has assumed that affirmative defenses based upon the application of the statutes of limitations in these states may be generally available to bar these state Claims, it has not had legal counsel undertake a detailed analysis of case law that might apply to defer or avoid application of a bar to such claims; thus, if rescission claims are made for those assumed to be barred by a statute of limitations and such claims are contested by the Company, until such affirmative defenses are ruled upon in a proceeding adjudicating the rights at issue, no assurances can be made that, if asserted, such defenses would actually bar the rescission claims in these states.

The Company considered methods to offer to rescind the previous investment purchase or subscription by persons who acquired or subscribed for investments during the period April 15, 2008 to February 18, 2011, but did not pursue any such methods.