2 Large Investment Houses and 2 OpinionsAs usual, you have to make your own good judgement call on this one.
BMO came out today and called ATY an underform situation. They say that Mr. Ho is very key in maintaining the firm's Asian connection to sales, which represent about 50% of corporate revenues. They say that without him (if he were to be forced to step down) it would be anyone's guess as to how badly sales would be affect and how many accounts would be at risk.
RBC came out at exactly the same time with a rating of outperform. They say that Mr. Ho is expendable and that, in fact, his importance in day to day operations has been negligible. They say the current CFO and COO are the ones with the vision and that they currently steer the ship, not to mention the fact that Orton and the others are not involved in this legal morass.
RBC says buy now on weakness and BMO says get out. Its like having one doctor telling you're healthy and fit and another one telling you you're about an hour away from dropping dead. You really have to love the investment business.
Good luck.