RE:RE:Demoted to "historians" in less than a year....It is a bit strange that someone even comments on VRB...you begin to wonder if like Stockhouse, Stockwatch accepts payment to write "editorials" about companies. There are many paid shills that masquerade as bloggers.
On a further note, comparing and contrasting VRB's performance to others in similar or same space is a perfectly acceptable way of measuring performance. In fact most analysis is about the comparables at the end of the day - if the comparables are questionable well that is another thing altogether.
As for the finder's fee, I believe the exchange has fairly strict rules as to who can receive. My experience it is usually the "investment banker" and the broker that split it up and I certainly agree that for any VRB staff to receive would be unsavoury. Even non-brokered deals usually have some sort of "investment banker" making introductions and there is usually a list that says the company will not pay a fee to certain people as they are the companies relationships....but then again the IR person's contract might stipulate a low salary and a piece of any money he/she places.