I have sent an email to my US Representative for the concerns we have for VanEck and RSX. I will post their reply here and hopefully it will be beneficial to our cause.
Would you mind sharing what you sent your representative?
I do mind, I write like a third grader.
Jk lol but it doesn’t save the email it’s through their website.
Not sure if this helps in any way. Looking at the halt types all the way through 2013 on CBOE site, there were none with “Regulatory Concern” till now. Ref: Cboe U.S. Equities Exchanges Halts Notices
I was thinking of looking for examples in the past where there might be instances where companies are sanctioned but underlying ETF continues to trade.
I started looking for historic documents with CBOE, Halts, etc. and found this, a letter to SEC where the CBOE General Counsel was sympathetic to wards closing-only transactions or closing rotation (https://www.sec.gov/rules/proposed/s71501/silver1.htm#P43_6580 ). I do know that it is a just a comment from them for a rule on security futures products but it is damning that they are not willing to step up.
Relevant excerpt:
“Currently, CBOE rules provide the Exchange with the discretion to declare a trading halt in a stock or index option in the interest of a fair and orderly market.6 Among the factors to be considered in determining whether to call a halt is whether trading in the underlying security or securities has been halted or suspended in the primary market. While the Exchange has advised its membership that it will generally halt trading in a stock option when trading in the underlying stock has been halted for regulatory reasons,7 it still possesses the discretion as to whether to impose a halt in these conditions. This discretion is important because there may be circumstances when it is necessary to allow trading in a stock option when the underlying stock is halted for regulatory reasons. For example, the Exchange might determine to allow closing-only transactions or a closing rotation for an option on Expiration Friday even though the underlying stock is halted so that option holders are not locked into their positions through expiration.”
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I’m writing something up, please hold.
Just posting some thoughts -
This is a bad situation and a lot of us are dealing with the reality we are going to lose money, for some, it might be a lot more than others. While I have not discussed this with anyone else it is my personal opinion that if this does end up going the legal route - no one should expect a timely outcome. In my experience, the legal route does take quite a long time. If this does end being the only solution to make us whole - I thought it best to set the expectation it could be a long ride.
I am very sympathetic to everyone - as I am in the same situation but thought it best to share.
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https://www.congress.gov/members/find-your-member
Letter for your government officials:
March 11, 2022
The Honorable First/Last
Re: Improprieties related to Russian financial trading involving VanEck, CBOE & The OCC
Dear (Congressman/Congresswoman/Senator) (Last name):
My name is (first and last) and I am a constituent who resides in your district.
I have been a casual stock trader for xxxx years to build my personal financial stability. Over the past few weeks, as tensions in Russia and Ukraine have increased, I began trading stocks and options related to Russia, most notably an ETF owned by VanEck called RSX. On Friday, March 4th, trading of this ETF was halted indefinitely. The halt, according to VanEck was initiated by CBOE, the exchange RSX trades on, however, CBOE refuses to give guidance on why they chose to halt it considering its a US based ETF and is not subject to sanctions. Since the halt, VanEck has been blatantly liquidating the ETF. This means the value of the ETF has significantly dropped during the halt, all while VanEck is not allowing trading to continue.
VanEck, by refusing to publicly announce liquidation of their ETF as they are morally obligated to do is preventing The OCC from setting these options from being set to cash settlement as they should be so that all the holders can fairly exercise their options. CBOE is enabling this by keeping the ETF needlessly halted and giving VanEck the opportunity to freely liquidate while options holders are held hostage. I have $xxxxx invested in RSX at this time, and when the markets close today, I will lose every penny of that money.
As someone who is simply an average trader, I simply do not have the capital nor the ability to pressure any of these entities into making a decision to resolve this issue. While (whatever you invested in 3/11s) is nothing to Wall Street, it is (give an example - a month’s rent, etc) to me. I am respectfully asking for your attention to this matter.
I am also including a link to a related news article: Bloomberg - Are you a robot?
Sincerely,
Name
street address
City, State, Zip code
YOU MUST INCLUDE YOUR CONTACT INFO. They have to know you are a constituent before they will act.
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Unfortunately all investment accounts have an arbitration clause, (so what ever is offered if anything )the first will be the most we are going to expect, legal will drag out for years.
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How do we get their emails?
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There’s a link at the top of the post.
Not exactly anything new or helpful but emailed Jim from Vaneck this morning and finally received a reply regard liquidation of RSX which is as follows: “I’m limited regarding email on this topic Feel free to call me directly at the number below or Click here to schedule a call or a meeting”. So essentially just further refusal to discuss RSX at all.
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Bro you know I’m a lawyer, right?
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Contacted my reps, zero confidence they will do anything though.
Jim Cooper will not discuss RSX by email. I’ve spoken with him 6 times this week.
I would still be interested in what he says by phone, “off the record”, meaning is there any hint about when (if) they will liquidate?
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Why not go over his head and talk to:
Adam Phillips
Chief Operating Officer, VanEck ETFs
Phone: 212.293.2096
Email: aphillips@vaneck.com
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Love you buddy. I have tried but Van Eck is not going to take my calls anymore for reasons I can’t talk about right now.
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Sent to my Senators as my rep’s website won’t actually let me send.
Just wondering if there is evidence of RSX liquidating? Not sure where to see more recent previous holdings, but it looks like in today’s holdings vs end of last year, there is only a decrease in two tickers? Is their 76% cash just due to the market values dropping to nothing, so their cash position is bigger?
If cash % is increasing, it means they are not holding stocks, aka they have liquidated their stocks
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