Shareholders will have a chance to vent their frustrations on Irvine-based Ubiquity Inc. at a public hearing Monday, according to Strategic Capital Management Ltd.

Strategic owns more than 21 million shares in the video production company, which is under investigation for failing to disclose routine and necessary financial documents.

“Shareholders are bitterly distressed over the lack of transparency and respect provided by management and the board towards them. Since Ubiquity has never had a shareholders’ meeting in its multi-year existence, the SEC hearing provides the first real opportunity for shareholders to confront Ubiquity’s management in person regarding their actions that disregard the most basic shareholder rights,” the company said in a statement.

The company’s stock on the OTC Markets exchange was temporarily suspended by the SEC last month because of a “lack of current and accurate information about the company.”

The public hearing will be held at 9:30 a.m. at SEC headquarters: 100 F Street, NE, Washington, D.C., Room 2.

Ubiquity, a digital video and technology company, says it does some work in virtual reality. Other information about the company has been scant as it hasn’t posted financial data in nearly two years.

The SEC probe will determine if it will be necessary to suspend the company’s stock for up to 12 months or revoke the company’s registration.

In March, Strategic Capital and other shareholders demanded Ubiquity hold a meeting and replace the company’s management. The group wants to remove the entire board, elect a new board of directors and void the award to top executives of 500 million voting shares.

Ubiquity has not filed any periodic reports since September 30, 2015, the SEC stated.

Last month not the first time the media company came under fire.

In August, former interim Chief Executive Nicholas Mitsakos was arrested and charged with securities and wire fraud by creating a fund and faking assets at Matrix Capital, a hedge fund he manages. Charges were filed by both the SEC and the Department of Justice.

Last year, Ubiquity appointed Bola Ajere to its board as “an independent director to lead Ubiquity’s Audit and Governance committee and ensure the company becomes current in its filings,” according to a company press release.

In November, the company notified the SEC it would be delayed in filing a Form 10-K for the fiscal year that ended Dec. 31, 2015.

“Ubiquity’s market cap on June 16, 2016 exceeded $100 million, but a multitude of late SEC filings, missing SEC filings, and an opaque business financing model are significant red flags,” the financial site Seeking Alpha wrote in July.

“Executive compensation is literally ‘out of control’ – completely unrelated to Ubiquity’s financial performance,” the site added.

In October, Ubiquity was ordered to pay $7.7 million to Chicago-based Gerald D.W. North & Associates principal Gerald North over a 2014 breach of contract lawsuit.

When North & Associates entered into an agreement with Ubiquity Holdings in 2006, it found previously undisclosed bankruptcies and pending lawsuits alleging fraud by the company, according to the Orange County Business Journal.

In 2014, the Investment Protection Association received emails touting the company’s stock.

“The timing of the emails promoting UBIQ coincides with what seems to be an abnormal rise in the trading volume of the stock,” the group said. “The recent financials of the company appear to be very bleak due to nearly zero revenue and negative income. We have tried contacting the company via the online form on the company’s website; however, it appears to be out of service.”

“In our opinion, it is clear that the price of UBIQ has nothing in common with the stock’s true value. If we take a look at UBIQ’s income statement, we can see that the company’s revenue has remained nearly zero while the company’s net income has been negative during the entire year of 2014,” the Investment Protection Association said.

The group added that the company is “having its shares promoted and sold at over-inflated prices, rather than delivering or attempting to deliver a true product to the market.”

Ubiquity was co-founded by Chris Carmichael and his wife Connie Jordan, according to the company’s website.

The investor tab on the company’s website was not working Wednesday afternoon.

Jarome Iginla’s Kings experience, short though it was, rekindled his competitive spirit, and he said Wednesday he intends to keep his Hall of Fame-caliber career going next season. He said he would weigh his options and “wait and see” what offers he receives during the offseason.

Iginla, who will be 40 on opening night next season, will be a free agent July 1.

He didn’t rule out re-signing with the Kings, but acknowledged they might not have an interest in him after acquiring him in a March 1 trade from the Colorado Avalanche. He scored six goals and nine points in 19 games with the Kings, who missed the playoffs for the second time in three seasons.

“Before I want to L.A., it had been a tough year,” Iginla said during a conference call with reporters. “It was tough on everybody in Colorado, so it was 50-50 that I’d keep playing. Going to L.A. was a really good experience. Until the last four, it felt like the games were a big deal.

“It was exciting.”

Iginla said after the Kings’ season-ending loss Sunday to the Ducks that he would like to speak to his family before making a decision, but was leaning toward playing for a 20th season in the NHL. He made his debut with the Calgary Flames as a 19-year-old in 1996-97.
“I would like to keep playing,” Iginla said Wednesday.

Asked whether he’d like to return to the Kings next season, he said, “Oh, for sure. But I don’t know if that’s an option from their point of view. They have to take their time and do their analysis. I did enjoy it there, though. It was great to play for Darryl again. I really enjoyed that part.”

Iginla referred to Darryl Sutter, who coached Iginla when both were with the Flames. The Kings fired Sutter and General Manager Dean Lombardi on Monday. Rob Blake, the Kings’ new GM, said his coaching search would begin immediately.

NEW JOB TITLE

As expected, the Kings retained the services of Michael Futa but gave him a new title as assistant general manager to Blake. Futa had been their vice president of hockey operations and director of player personnel, where he served for three seasons.

Futa was the Kings’ director of amateur scouting from 2007-14. Along with current director of amateur scouting Mark Yannetti, Futa was responsible for drafting Drew Doughty, Kyle Clifford, Alec Martinez, Tanner Pearson and Tyler Toffoli, among others.

Watching senior shortstop Jordan Matthews, who is headed to play for softball powerhouse University of Florida next season, is like watching someone two steps ahead of everybody else.

When she’s running full-speed ahead, she seems to float.

“Everything she does is so effortless,” said Jill Merriweather, El Dorado High School softball’s head coach. “We’re amazed. Some of the plays she makes, we’re like, ‘How does she do that?’ Everything about her, she just has a natural athletic ability that most kids just don’t have.”

“There’s just a presence about her that everybody’s drawn to,” Merriweather said. “When Jordan does it, everybody else wants to do it. She’s set the bar so high.”

Matthews is coming off a stellar 2016 season for the Golden Hawks (7-2-1) where she batted a whopping .542 and tallied 20 runs scored, 20 RBI and 39 hits.

“She’s the backbone of our team,” said Makenna Calderon, junior catcher. “After games, before game, during games, at school, she’s just a natural leader for us. Her presence just makes you want to do better.”

Matthews started playing softball at age 5, but played up in the 8U Division, She wasn’t fazed by the competition. In fact, that was her favorite part about it, she said.

She would watch NCAA women’s softball and imitate the moves she saw, pretending she was out on the field, in the actual games, sprinting and hustling. Her favorite squad was UCLA. She’d practice whenever she had a spare moment, determined to get better.

Her eighth-grade year, she took a break and played volleyball. She enjoyed it, but the sport wasn’t the same. Something was missing.

“I missed softball really bad,” Matthews said. “I had to come back and play.”

She’d challenge herself on the softball club circuit, and over the past few seasons, has consistently ranked among the nation’s top 100 recruits.

When Florida came calling early on in her high school career, she couldn’t turn down the offer.

“I went to the campus and fell in love with everything about it,” Matthews said.

For now, she’s focused on pushing El Dorado farther in her final season. The team has been ripping through its opponents, standing now at 11-3-1.

As much attention as Matthews brings when she steps onto the field, she usually blends into the huddle. You can find her telling jokes to teammates in the dugout, even smiling when she’s on the field – even as she makes impressive plays.

“She’s not only playing for herself,” said Emily Klee, senior pitcher/first baseman. “She makes sure everyone around her is staying positive.”

Sandra Sellani, co-author of “40-Year-Old Vegan,” will sign copies of her newly released vegan cookbook from 7 to 8:30 p.m., April 13, at The Market Place Barnes & Noble, 13712 Jamboree Road in Irvine. The book includes 75 vegan recipes based on Sandra and twin sister Susan’s Italian family recipes, and a 52-week meal plan to help transition to a plant-based lifestyle.

Tomoya Shimura

tshimura@scng.com

ARTY COMBINATION: Known for its collaborative approach to fashion, French men’s wear label Études Studio has taken over Harvey Nichols’ lower ground pop-up space Project 109.
The shop, which opened on Wednesday and is slated to run for five weeks, stocks the brand’s spring collection as well as an exclusive capsule consisting of a T-shirt and a tote bag, adapted from the collective’s latest “Dérives In,” or “Drifting In,” series, harkening back at the French notion of the “flâneur.”
Both items retail at 80 pounds, or $99.50 at current exchange.
Boasting the label’s penchant for art and photography, the pop-up also showcases images from video artist Colin Snapp, who shot the collective’s latest ad campaign.
A multifaceted platform that produces apparel, edits limited-edition art books and provides creative services, Études is a studio established by artist Aurélien Arbet and graphic designer Jérémie Egry in 2012.
It is backed financially by a swath of independent creatives, including DJ, producer and former Daft Punk manager Pedro Winter; Pierre-François Le Louët, president of the French Federation of Women’s Ready-to-Wear; and most recently singer Woodkid, who all swear by the label’s minimalist streetwear with an arty touch.
Among this season’s standouts is a capsule of printed pieces inspired by the artwork

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CHROME FINISHES: Twenty-one years after Chrome Hearts opened its first New York store on the Upper East Side, the Los Angeles brand has found a more spacious downtown one.
While its three-story Upper East Side townhouse is now a Madison Avenue fixture, the West Village location is a new attraction in a neighborhood where a flurry of specialty stores have exited in recent weeks. The 16,000-square-foot location offers an assortment of customized furniture, pairing ebony wood with metal and leather. Visitors will find a spiral staircase to a showroom that spotlights the various lifestyles to which Chrome Hearts caters. From custom garage aspects to a sports corner, there will also be Baccarat chandeliers and a Chrome Hearts-adorned chef’s kitchen.
Chrome Hearts executives plan to make the space ever-changing. For the opening, executives decided on a bean bag chair room, a 14-seat dinner table, a 13-foot stuffed leather dinosaur with sterling spikes and a 150-pound chainmaille American flag with pavé diamonds and engraved with the Pledge of Allegiance. Shoppers will also find the company’s more classic items and accessories.
A select assortment of Bella Hadid’s capsule collection with Chrome Hearts, which was previewed at the Chrome Hearts store in Paris last month, can be found

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POCKET CHANGE: An Austin, Tex., app company thinks it has a solution to help make brands’ marketing dollars more productive.
Dosh, which was founded by Ryan Wuerch and former Stella & Dot chief executive officer Mike Lohner, has created an app that’s been in private beta for the past few weeks and is now gearing up for a public beta launch April 25.
Consumers download the free Dosh app, enter in their credit or debit card information and then shop — either online or in-store. If they shop at a partner brand using the credit card information they saved when signing up for the app, they’ll get cash back — the quantity of which varies from brand to brand. That money gets placed into their Dosh account and when the balance hits $15, the consumer can transfer those funds into their bank account.
Dosh makes its money by taking a percentage of each transaction.
“We believe we’re solving a key need for merchants and brands,” he said.
The app has been in development for over three years now with the company having closed on $2 million in March, bringing its total raised to date to $6 million across what Wuerch said is a seed round.

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FIT’S FIRST DOWN: In keeping with its reputation for scouting young talent before they turn pro, the National Football League has teamed with Fashion Institute of Technology students in a design contest that could give them the chance to reinvent NFL branding.
New York Giants wide receiver Sterling Shepard will sport the winning look at Tuesday night’s event for the NFLxFIT Visual System Design contest and exhibition at The Museum at FIT. In what is a first for the NFL, FIT students across various majors have been brainstorming to reinvent NFL branding, knowing select winning designs will be featured on certain NFL merchandise when the new season gets rolling. Along with the students’ athletic creations, guests will get to check out NFL memorabilia and the Vincent Lombardi trophy. New York Giants and New York Jets fans will find a few of those teams’ players at the event. The more fashion-conscious attendees may gravitate toward stylist June Ambrose.
Once the FIT and NFL judges have their final say after reviewing the six student teams’ work, the winning team of students will pocket a $15,000 grand prize. There will also be a second place prize of $10,000 and a People’s Choice award of $5,000.

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French Connection is moving into a new category.
The contemporary apparel brand will introduce women’s sleepwear, loungewear and intimate apparel in the U.S. It has signed a licensing agreement with Gelmart International to produce and distribute the line.
“The French Connection intimates, sleepwear and lounge collection is designed for the modern woman who is on the pulse of today’s fashion trends and not completely satisfied with the options on the market,” said a representative from the brand. “The new assortment complements and merchandises back to key pieces from the brand’s ready-to-wear collection offering an easy and cohesive way to shop for a complete look.”
The sleepwear and loungewear collections will be available in October at better department stores and in French Connection shops throughout the U.S. and Canada. The intimate apparel collection will be available in December. The line will retail from $30 to $80.
This is the first time the company has launched intimates, but the goal is for French Connection to be a global lifestyle brand.

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Just what we’ve all been waiting for.