Investing in biotech stocks - My experience so far

sevenhills

AMRS is up 90% this week 

sevenhills

AMRS is up 90% this week 

moneyfoolish

sevenhills said:

AMRS is up 90% this week 

It actually went from 20% up early today to finish 3% down. Some large buys at the start of trading followed by some huge sells.

BristolB

Hi. I hold Amyris shares with AJ Bell and have been told that as Amyris will be removed from Euroclear CREST system because of their link to cannabis, I will have to sell them. Does anyone know any other UK broker I can transfer these to, as I will be crystallising a substantial loss on these shares if I have to sell. I guess all UK brokers use Euroclear CREST. Anybody have Amyris shares with other brokers and have been forced to sell ?

BrockStoker

Hello all. Apologies for my long absence. My feet seem to have barely touched the ground since summer. Just had a little letup lately, so thought this would be an appropriate time to return..

BristolB  - Welcome. Sorry to hear that. I am also in the same situation as I also hold AMRS with AJB. I just checked my iWEB account, where I also hold AMRS, and there are no messages relating to AMRS there, so that may be an option for a transfer. But it may be delaying the inevitable.

Very unfair being forced to sell in such a short space of time. AMRS have been involved with cannabinoids for some time now, so why now? I'm thinking about making a fuss about this, and asking for more time at the very least..

I really don't want to sell either, especially at a loss. Not really sure what to do here myself, but if I can transfer them somewhere else I will, as long as I'm able to continue holding.

Anyone else have any ideas?

BristolB

Been in touch with a few other brokers. HL will not allow any new purchases but any open position can be held. Interactive Investors replied that as they do not use CDIs to hold US shares they don't see a problem, however I am not sure if that is correct and the advisor replying understood the issue (I thought ii use Euroclear CREST like most other brokers).

I have sent a message to AJB that they are taking a more stricter position on this than say HL, and as I genuinely have not been happy with them due to a few other issues, this might prompt me to start planning a move away from them in the long term.

Degiro could be option if willing to hold shares outside of ISA or SIPP. But like you said there does seem a certain inevitability about this. Really tough one as you could transfer to another broker and with the current macro environment, could be force to sell at an even lower price than today. There is a lot of risk with this investment but this certainly was not the one I had thought of. Costly but another invaluable investment lesson (after I thought I had heeding the lesson about overseas investments with Polymetal).

BrockStoker

Thanks for posting what you found BristolB.

I just spoke with iWEB, and they do indeed use the CREST system. I'm not sure what is going on there as they have not informed me (or my wife, who also holds AMRS with them) that they will be forcing us to sell. Surely they'll need to give some notice - but I'm assuming the stock is being removed from CREST on the 31st - perhaps that is not the case, and we may have a bit longer on iWEB.

iWeb also suggested that paper certificates could be an option, but I'm not keen on the idea. It looks like I'll be getting in touch with HL or ii.

I don't suppose you know if HL will allow transfers that include AMRS shares? That does seem to be what you are implying, but it's not clear.

BrockStoker

Just got off the phone with HL. It does not sound like they will be able to hold AMRS, but the guy I spoke to said he would get in touch with another part of their team who might be able to help and get back to me.

It's looking like the only option may be to hold paper certificates, and as far as I know that means they can not be held in an ISA. I do already hold some AMRS outside of my ISA, but I'm reluctant to hold more outside of an ISA, for obvious reasons!

BristolB

Hi BrockStoker. I think HL will not let allow any new buys or let anyone transfer shares to them. AJBell have said to me that once Euroclear kick off Amyris from their system, it will be very difficult to trade these shares, so I don't understand how HL will navigate around that.
However, I think there are a couple of options available. I was going to post this after I had clarified this with the following brokers early next week, but I will post it now what I have researched.
Any brokers that use Crest CDIs to hold international shares are no good. This includes majority of UK brokers the likes of HL, AJB, Halifax, Fidelity Int, iWeb etc.
Interactive Investors I believe don't use CDIs and deal directly in the local exchange (Nasdaq in this case), so that is a good option. But like I said I need this confirmed from them.
Others are Interactive Brokers, Degiro ( no ISA or SIPP) and possibly Charles Stanley.
I hope that helps.

sevenhills

I sold my AMRS after making a good profit last month. Their share price has been erratic, down at the moment. Is this new ruling big enough to affect the share price, just an issue in the UK?