Before the official announcement of being listed on the SDN list by the U.S. Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control, Wuhan Tianyu Information Industry had an unfavorable year, not only being listed as special treatment (ST), but also being caught in internal disputes.
On June 16, Cailian Press reported that ST Tianyu, a A-share listed company, announced this afternoon that it was included in the SDN list by the US Department of the Treasury's OFAC, which aroused market attention.
ST Tianyu stated in its announcement that it was recently informed that OFAC (the Office of Foreign Assets Control of the US Department of the Treasury) has included the company in the SDN list (Specially Designated Nationals list). Entities on the list will face restrictions on transactions with US entities, overseas asset transfers, and forex settlement.
ST Tianyu also mentioned in the announcement that being included in the SDN list may have an impact on the company's forex settlements and other aspects. The company currently does not have any subsidiaries or branches in the United States, nor does it have any assets or businesses in the United States. The company is evaluating the extent of the impact of being included in the SDN list and will formulate effective response measures to maximize the interests of customers, partners, shareholders, and employees.
According to the announcement, Tianyu Information has been deeply involved in data security technology for many years and is committed to providing professional data security products and services for domestic and foreign industries with high security requirements such as finance and communications. After years of development, the company is in the leading position in the industry in the fields of smart cards, financial payment terminals, and other products. In recent years, the company has actively responded to the national Belt and Road Initiative concept, vigorously developed international business, and strived to explore international markets for smart cards, financial payment terminals and other products. The scale of its international business has grown year by year.
"The trade between the company and overseas customers is normal business dealings, and strict compliance with relevant laws and regulations and international commercial practices involved in production and operation activities. OFAC's sanctions are unilateral actions, and the reasons and specific situations for including the company in the SDN list remain to be verified. The company will communicate actively with all parties as soon as possible and hope to receive fair and just treatment." ST Tianyu said in the announcement.
According to publicly available information, Tianyu Information's smart card products are not only widely used in China, but also sold to more than 20 countries and regions. However, the company's main revenue currently comes from domestic sources, and overseas revenue accounts for a relatively small proportion. Looking at the composition of the company's main revenue in 2023, revenue from domestic sources accounts for more than 82%, and revenue from foreign sources accounts for less than 18%.
It is worth mentioning that before the official announcement of being included in the SDN list by the U.S. Department of the Treasury's OFAC, Tianyu Information has had an unlucky year in 2023. Not only was the company's stock ST, but it is also currently embroiled in internal conflicts.
Due to the company's failure to resolve relevant illegal guarantee matters within the stipulated time limit, according to relevant regulations, Tianyu Information's stock trading was subject to other risk warnings on January 29 and the stock abbreviation was changed to "ST Tianyu."
In addition, the company's internal conflict also concerns many investors. According to an announcement released by ST Tianyu on the evening of May 20th, the company's shareholders' meeting in 2023 deliberated on 8 proposals, but 5 of them were not passed, including the 2023 annual report and its summary. On May 21st, SZSE sent a letter of concern to ST Tianyu, requesting that the company explain whether there exist any significant disagreements among the major shareholders, actual controllers, shareholders, and company management regarding relevant issues, and whether the company faces any circumstances of control competition.
On ****, ST Tianyu revealed in its reply to the letter of concern that the major shareholders who abstained votes at the shareholders' meeting, including the controlling shareholder and the second largest shareholder, had divergences with the company management in terms of internal control. However, ST Tianyu also stated that the major shareholders hoped that the company's control would remain stable and that the company would operate legally and in compliance under the leadership of the current actual controller. The major shareholders have no plans or arrangements to compete for control of the company.