Wolves, should we do one more email to step this up. Draft for consideration.
Pls provide feedback confirming agreement on verbiage and interest in sending this by noon EST today. Assuming we have feedback we are good to go, my suggestion is we send this email redirecting our concerns to the OSC (as IIROC had advised), and copying in the financial post as well as 680 news, along with CIBC.
To: inquiries@osc.gov.on.ca
CC: renah.persofsky@cibc.ca; investors@aphria.com; jack.glazier@cibc.com; ombudsman@cibc.com; nmacadam@postmedia.com; Mike.Eppel@rci.rogers.com
Good Morning OSC,
A group of Aphria investors has raised a concern to CIBC & IIROC as follows:
“As retail investors in Aphria, many of us believe there is a concerted effort by some financial institutions to artificially suppress the price Aphria stock. It is our consideration that some institutional analysts are purposefully reducing price targets to accommodate short selling. Given the number of stocks being shorted, we also believe that some institutions may be engaging in the illegal practice of naked short selling.
CIBC maintains a price target lower than many other analysts on the street and given the recent quarterly results and performance of the company, it is difficult to understand why there is such a discrepancy between the research houses.
We request an investigation into this matter.”
The response received to the above concern thus far from CIBC has been as follows:
| Glazier, Jack <Jack.Glazier@cibc.com> | | Thu, Oct 17, 12:34 PM (19 hours ago) | | 
|
to me, OMBUDSMAN, Mailbox, Joel, InvestorInquiries@iiroc.ca
| |
Thank you for your email. The research you are commenting about is for informational purposes only and does not constitute an offer or solicitation to buy or sell any securities. It is important to do your own research and analysis, or to speak with a financial advisor, before making any investment to ensure it is right for you. More information is available in the disclaimers included in each research report.
Sincerely,
Jack Glazier| Director | Executive Client Relations | CIBC
750 Lawrence Avenue West, E8, Toronto, Ontario | M6A 1B8 | Tel: 1-800-465-2255 Ext 5046 | Fax: 1-800-985-9620
jack.glazier@cibc.com
We think further investigation is warranted in this case. IIROC further advised that these types of concerns should be addressed to the OSC and not IIROC. Please review at your earliest possible convieniance.
Sincerely,