CURRENT ACCOUNT: Today marks the six-month anniversary of the suspension of Bula shares and the Irish Stock Exchange will have to decide soon on the fate of the company.
The exchange faces an unenviable task in having to decide whether to re-list the company, continue its suspension or bring to an end its publicly-quoted status.
To terminate Bula's listing would be very bad news indeed for the company's 40,000 small shareholders.
It would crystallise the losses on which they are already sitting and end all hopes they may have of recouping even a small part of this money.
While the exchange will be understandably reluctant to put the final nail in Bula's coffin, it must consider the broader picture. Its remit is to protect the interests of all investors in the Irish stock market, not just those in Bula.
Bula's recent history, culminating in last month's shambolic annual meeting, does not reflect well on the Irish stock market.
Nor is the latest crisis the first to afflict the company. In recent years, Bula has lurched from one crisis to another as a revolving cast of directors has kept hope alive for the beleaguered shareholders.
None, however, has succeeded in putting the company back on a sound trading footing, the whole point of a listing in the first place.
Despite the best intentions of those now running the company - who are desperately seeking to recoup money in Libya and Bahrain - it may be time for the exchange to bite the bullet and put Bula out of its misery.
