article: Thirty days ago, the nominated adviser for the holding company, Rangers International Football Club (RIFC), resigned. Trading on the stock exchange was suspended. The company was given 30 days to find a new one. To recap further, a nominated adviser, or nomad, is required by the London Stock Exchange to carry out first-line regulation of a company that's listed on the Alternative Investments Market (AIM) - the junior trading platform for shares in smaller, younger companies and higher risk investors. The nomad has to make sure that the company's governance is in line with stock market rules. The nomad's reputation depends on it. So if the regulated company's governance is a burach, there's blood all over the boardroom walls, complaints are piling in, the auditor quits, accountants warn that there's significant risk that the company may not be able to continue as a going concern, and it's doubtful that the football team can win promotion to a higher-earning league... and so it goes on... then any sane nomad would be wise to take his camel and stay well clear. And that's precisely what's happened. We're told by the new bosses at Ibrox that the first test by a prospective (unnamed) nomad was passed. That was the "fit and proper" test for the directors who took over the club two days after the last nomad quit. And that test was also applied to Dave King, whose South African convictions for tax criminality on a grand scale have cast rather a large shadow over his plans to become the Ibrox chairman. He's staying off the board until approved by the football authorities and the stock exchange - except it looks like the stock exchange test won't be a problem any more. So what are the implications of delisting. Quite a few Rangers fans own small shareholdings following the stock market float in December 2012. It's now much more difficult to sell those shares, though if you can find a buyer, there's nothing to stop you selling. Registering the sale should still be possible. A stock market is the place where buyers and sellers can meet up and do their deals. If there's not much liquidity - that is, it's hard to find a buyer - then the value of the asset goes down. That helps explain why we're hearing that legal action is being contemplated by those who invested in RIFC, and feel let down. They could have expected the AIM listing provided assurance that the company would be competently run. There's now evidence that it wasn't. And the value of shares has fallen from 93p to 17p, then rebounding to 35p when trading was suspended. To help shareholders, the directors of RIFC are putting in place a temporary solution. They've found a broker who can match-make for buyers and sellers. That system is used by Millwall FC shareholders. The next bit of the plan is to join another market. In a previous incarnation (cue familiar protests from those who don't believe in corporate reincarnation as the same football club), Rangers Football Club shares
summary: It will come as no surprise to followers of events at Ibrox that it's back to code SNAFU - that is, the situation is normal, in that it's all, er, fouled up.