Investor Sues Financial Industries Corp.

INSURANCE

Investor suit seeks meeting

An Austin investor has filed suit against Financial Industries Corp. demanding that the company convene an annual shareholder meeting — something it hasn't done since 2003.

T. David Porter said the cost of ongoing revision of financial statements at the insurance company are "decimating" its assets.

Financial Industries has said it can't convene a meeting because it hasn't filed financial statements for 2004 and 2005, and securities rules bar companies from soliciting proxies for new directors if its financial filings aren't current. The company has said it anticipated being able to hold a meeting in early December.

The company says it's working to correct the financial statements.

Porter says the company could hold a meeting without soliciting proxies, to make the board answer to shareholders.

Financial Industries once was one of Austin's most stable companies. But in the past four years, it has ousted its founder, been through several CEOs and chief financial officers, been delisted from the Nasdaq exchange and had to restate its financial performance for several quarters.