Genius Group shares details on direct registration to help shareholders prevent unauthorized lending of their shares.
Quiver AI Summary
Genius Group Limited announced details for shareholders interested in registering their shares directly with the company's transfer agent, Vstock, to mitigate the risk of their shares being lent out for short selling without their consent. This initiative was prompted by shareholder concerns about brokers lending shares purchased in "Street Name," where shares are held under the broker's name rather than the shareholder's. Board Advisor Kevin Malone emphasized that shareholders can protect their ownership by requesting a Direct Registration System (DRS) transfer. Currently, approximately 14.8 million shares, or 18.2% of the company’s total, are held at Vstock, with the remaining shares with brokers. The company will monitor DRS shares and provide updates to shareholders. Genius Group is dedicated to AI-powered education solutions serving a global user base.
Potential Positives
- The press release provides shareholders with a direct way to protect their investments by enabling them to register their shares directly, reducing the risk of their shares being lent out without their knowledge.
- The involvement of Board Advisor Kevin Malone adds credibility and expertise to the initiative, given his extensive experience in wealth management and market manipulation prevention.
- The company is transparent about the current percentage of shares held at Vstock, showing proactive engagement with shareholders and commitment to improving shareholding practices.
- By allowing shareholders to easily transfer their shares to a secure location, Genius Group promotes greater control and trust for investors in their ownership of company stock.
Potential Negatives
- The company is addressing shareholder concerns about their shares being lent out without consent, suggesting a lack of transparency in their stock handling practices by brokers.
- As of the press release date, only 18.2% of shares are held directly by shareholders, indicating a significant majority of shares (81.8%) are still under broker control, which may imply less investor confidence.
- The need to advise shareholders on how to prevent stock lending could be perceived as a sign of potential market manipulation or mishandling of shareholder assets.
FAQ
What is the Direct Registration System (DRS)?
The Direct Registration System (DRS) allows shareholders to hold their shares directly with the company's transfer agent.
Why should shareholders consider DRS transfers?
DRS transfers help prevent shares from being lent out without shareholder consent, offering greater control over ownership.
Who is the transfer agent for Genius Group?
The transfer agent for Genius Group is Vstock Transfer LLC, which manages the direct registration process.
How can shareholders initiate a DRS transfer?
Shareholders can request their brokers to transfer shares directly to Vstock Transfer via the Direct Registration System.
What percentage of Genius Group shares are currently held at Vstock?
As of July 17, 2025, approximately 18.2% of Genius Group shares are held at Vstock Transfer.
Disclaimer: This is an AI-generated summary of a press release distributed by GlobeNewswire. The model used to summarize this release may make mistakes. See the full release here.
Full Release
SINGAPORE, July 17, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Genius Group Limited (NYSE American: GNS) (“Genius Group” or the “Company”), a leading AI-powered, Bitcoin-first education group, is today providing investors with details to enable interested shareholders to direct register their shares with our transfer agent.
Further to requests from Genius Group shareholders on options available to reduce the risk of their shares being lent out without their knowledge to third parties for short selling, the Company has worked with its Board Advisor, Kevin Malone, to provide information to its shareholders. Mr. Malone brings experience advising companies and investors on fighting market manipulation, together with over 40 years of family experience in wealth management.
Mr. Malone has indicated that in most brokerage agreements, brokers are under no obligation to notify shareholders when they lend out their clients’ shares, and are also under no obligation to pass on any financial benefit from loaning out the shares to the shareholders who own them. In most cases, the shares purchased on behalf of shareholders are purchased in “Street Name”, which means they are not purchased under the name of the shareholder, but under the name of the broker and held on behalf of the shareholder, with the broker fully in control of how and when the shares get lent out.
For Company shareholders to prevent this practice from taking place, they can request their broker to transfer their shares via the Direct Registration System (DRS) to the Company’s transfer agent, Vstock, where they can be held in safekeeping by Vstock, under the name of the shareholder, where they cannot be lent out to third parties without the shareholder’s consent. The shares can also be transferred back to the shareholders’ respective brokers via DRS transfer, with the process both ways being simple and fast.
Shareholders who choose to DRS transfer their shares can do so by instructing their Broker to transfer their shares under their name to Vstock Transfer via DRS, and the individual shareholder would contact their broker for details on how to facilitate this instruction. For ease of reference, Vstock’s details are:
Company Name: Vstock Transfer LLC
Website:
https://www.vstocktransfer.com/
Webpage on DRS:
https://www.vstocktransfer.com/drs-transfer
Contact details:
https://www.vstocktransfer.com/contact
Genius Group will be tracking the number of shares held at Vstock instead of with brokers and will be providing updates on this number as more shareholders choose to transfer their shares to the Company’s transfer agent. As of July 17, 2025, based on Vstock’s data, the Company has approximately 14.8 million shares held at Vstock, accounting for 18.2% of the Company’s shares issued to shareholders, with the remaining 81.8% currently held in broker accounts.
Board Advisor, Kevin Malone, said “Buying shares which are then held in ‘Street name’ by your broker and then loaned out without your knowledge is really no different from buying a house which your real estate broker then buys ‘on your behalf’ under his own name with your money and then rents out without your knowledge.”
“What you own, you should control. For years, brokerages have gotten away with issuing excessive dollars in IOUs that you see on your computer screen in your accounts. Clients always have the option to DRS shares out of their accounts with my Firm and I am happy to assist them in doing so. As Advisor to Genius Group, I plan on keeping my clients and the public up to date on the progress of the company's DRS numbers.”
About Genius Group
Genius Group (NYSE: GNS) is a Bitcoin-first business delivering AI powered, education and acceleration solutions for the future of work. Genius Group serves 5.8 million users in over 100 countries through its Genius City model and online digital marketplace of AI training, AI tools and AI talent. It provides personalized, entrepreneurial AI pathways combining human talent with AI skills and AI solutions at the individual, enterprise and government level. To learn more, please visit https://www.geniusgroup.ai/
Forward-Looking Statements
Statements made in this press release include forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. Forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of words such as “may,” “will”, “plan,” “should,” “expect,” “anticipate,” “estimate,” “continue,” or comparable terminology. Such forward-looking statements are inherently subject to certain risks, trends and uncertainties, many of which the Company cannot predict with accuracy and some of which the Company might not even anticipate and involve factors that may cause actual results to differ materially from those projected or suggested. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements and are advised to consider the factors listed above together with the additional factors under the heading “Risk Factors” in the Company's Annual Reports on Form 20-F, as may be supplemented or amended by the Company's Reports of a Foreign Private Issuer on Form 6-K. The Company assumes no obligation to update or supplement forward-looking statements that become untrue because of subsequent events, new information or otherwise. No information in this press release should be construed as any indication whatsoever of the Company’s future revenues, results of operations, or stock price.
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