IASG files extension, meeting requests

ALBANY, N.Y.--Early spring was a busy time for Criticom's corporate parent, Integrated Alarm Services Group. In March, IASG alerted Nasdaq that it would not file its year-end financial results on time, leading the stock exchange to notify the company it could be in jeopardy of being delisted. By early April, however, the company seemed to bounce back, announcing it had scheduled a hearing with the Nasdaq Listing Qualifications Panel to resolve the matter. Nasdaq's decision stems from IASG's announcement on March 10 that the company would delay filing its Annual Report on Form 10-K for the period ended December 31, 2004 with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The report was due by the end of March. "I'm not sure they are having any problem unlike any other highly acquisitive public company," said Matthew Rogers, managing director at investment firm USBX Advisory Services. "But they are having them in a newly, regulative reporting environment." The filing delay results from IASG's attempts to achieve compliance with the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, section 404 that covers management assessment of internal controls. This rule, the first time the company has faced such requirements, compels companies to describe how management established and maintained protocols for financial reporting. "We're going to be having a meeting with the qualification panel," said Joseph Reinhart, spokesperson for the company, on IASG's intention to resolve the matter in a timely manner. IASG raised $213 million in its initial public offering in July 2003. This is the first time the company has run into this problem. Reinhart declined to comment on when the company will complete its 2004 audit, which is being handled by PricewaterhouseCoopers. As a result of being late, IASG's trading symbol will be temporarily traded under the IASGE symbol from IASG to indicate the company's filing status.