- -------------------------
FORM 4
|__| Check this box if no
longer subject to
Section 16. Form 4
or Form 5 obligations
may continue. See
Instruction 1(b).
- -------------------------
UNITED STATES SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
Washington, D.C. 20549
STATEMENT OF CHANGES IN BENEFICIAL OWNERSHIP
Filed pursuant to Section 16(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934,
Section 17(a) of the Public Utility Holding Company Act of 1935 or Section 30(f)
of the Investment Company Act of 1940.
- -------------------------------------
OMB Approval
- -------------------------------------
OMB Number: 3235-0287
Expires: September 30, 1998
Estimated average burden
hours per response....0.5
- -------------------------------------
<TABLE>
<CAPTION>
- --------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------------ -------------------------
1. Name and Address of 2. Issuer Name and Ticker or Trading Symbol 6. Relationship of Reporting Person(s) to Issuer
or Perporting Person* (Check all applicable)
X Director __ 10% Owner
X Officer (give title below) __ Other (specify below)
Chief Executive Officer & President
Rittereiser, Fredric W. The Ashton Technology Group, Inc. "ASTN"
- ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
(Last) (First) (Middle) 3. IRS or Social 4. Statement for 7. Individual or Joint/Group Reporting
Security Number of Month/Year (check applicable line)
Reporting Person X Form Filed by One Reporting Person
(Voluntary) June 1997 __ Form Filed by More than One Reporting
c/o The Dover Group, Inc. Person
20 Maple Street
- ------------------------------------------- ------------------
(Street) 5. If Amendment,
Date of Original
(Month/Year)
Toms River, NJ 08753 October 1996
- ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
(City) (State) (Zip) Table 1 -- Non-Derivative Securities Acquired, Disposed of, or Beneficially Owned
<S> <C> <C> <C> <C> <C> <C>
- ------------------------------------------ ------------- ----------------- ---------------------------------------------------------
1. Title of Security 2. Trans- 3. Transaction 4. Securities Acquired (A) 5. Amount of 6. Ownership 7. Nature of
(Instr. 3) action Code (Instr. or Disposed of (D) Securities Form: Indirect
Date 8) (Instr. 3, 4 and 5) Beneficially Direct (D) Beneficial
(Month/ Owned at End or Indirect Ownership
Day/ of Month (I) (Instr. 4)
Year) (Instr. 3 and (Instr. 4)
- ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Code V Amount (A) or (D) Price
- ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Common Stock 2/9/97 J(1) 750,000 (1) (1) -0-
- ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
- ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
- ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Reminder: Report on a separate line for each class of securities beneficially owned directly or indirectly.
* If the form is filed by more than one reporting person, See Instruction 4(b)(v).
</TABLE>
<PAGE>
<TABLE>
FORM 4 (continued) Table II -- Derivative Securities Acquired, Disposed of, or Beneficially Owned
(e.g., puts, calls, warrants, options, convertible securities)
<S> <C> <C> <C> <C> <C> <C> <C> <C> <C> <C>
- ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1. Title 2. Conver- 3. Trans- 4. Trans- 5. Number of 6. Date 7. Title 8. Price 9. Number 10. Owner- 11. Nature of
of sion or action action Derivative Exer- and of of ship Indirect
Deri- Exercise Date Code Securities cisable Amount Deri- deri- Form Beneficial
vative Price of (Instr. Acquired (A) and Expi- of vative vative of Deri- Ownership
Secu- Deri- (Month/ 8) or Disposed ration Under- Secu- Secu- vative (Instr. 4)
rity vative Day/ of (D) Date Lying rity rities Security
(Instr. Security Year) (Instr. 3, (Month/ Securi- (Instr. Benefi- Direct
3) 4, and 5) Day/ ties 5) cially (D) or
Year) (Instr. Owned Indirect
3 and4) at End (I)
of (Instr.
Month 4)
(Instr.
4)
--------------------------------------------------
Code V (A) (D) Date Expir- Title Amount
Exerci- ation or of
sable Date Number
of
Shares
---------------------------------------------------
- ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Common Stock $4.50 10/22/96 J(2) 1,000,000 4/2/97 6/2/97 Com- 1,000,000 N/A -0-
Call Options mon
Stock
- ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Common Stock $4.50 10/22/96 J(3) 107,500 (3) (3) Com- 107,500 N/A -0-
Put Options mon
Stock
- ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
- ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
- ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
- ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
- ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
- ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
- ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
- ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
- ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
- ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Explanation of Responses:
(1) - (3) See Exhibit A
** Intentional misstatements or omissions of /s/ Fredric W. Rittereiser July 10, 1997
facts constitute Federal Criminal -------------------------------------------- ------------------------------
Violations ** Signature of Reporting Person Date
See 18 U.S.C. and 15 U.S.C. 78ff(a).
Note: File three copies of this Form, one
of which must be manually signed.
If space provided is insufficient,
see Instruction 6 for procedure.
Potential persons who are to respond to the collection of information contained in this form are not required to respond unless form
displays a currently valid OMB number.
Reminder: Report on a separate line for each class of securities beneficially owned directly or indirectly.
* If the form is filed by more than one reporting person, See Instruction 4(b)(v).
</TABLE>
<PAGE>
Exhibit A
June 1997 Addendum to FORM 4
for Fredric W. Rittereiser for The Ashton Technology Group, Inc. ("Ashton")
(1) A Settlement Agreement by and among Ashton, its subsidiary Universal Trading
Technologies Corporation ("UTTC"), Fredric W. Rittereiser ("Rittereiser"),
The Dover Group, Inc. ("Dover"), and David N. Rosensaft ("Rosensaft") and a
Stock Purchase Agreement by and among Ashton, Rittereiser, Dover and
Rosensaft (collectively, the "Agreements"), were both entered into on
January 30, 1997. Subject to the Agreements, Dover, Rittereiser, or his or
its designee was to purchase 750,000 shares of common stock of Ashton, par
value $.01 (the "Common Stock") from Rosensaft for $2,000,000 on April 10,
1997. On April 10, 1997, Rittereiser and Dover declined to purchase the
750,000 shares of Common Stock.
On May 1, 1997, Rosensaft commenced an action in the United States District
Court for the Southern District of New York entitled "David N. Rosensaft v.
The Ashton Technology Group, Inc., Universal Trading Technologies
Corporation, The Dover Group, Inc. and Frederic W. Rittereiser"
(collectively, the "Defendants") No. 97 Civ. 3138, asserting ten claims
against one or more of the Defendants including breach of contract and
securities fraud and seeking, inter alia, specific performance of the
Settlement Agreement dated January 30, 1997, between and among the parties
or in the alternative, actual and consequential damages in an amount to be
proved at trial in addition to punitive damages. On June 9, 1997, Rosensaft
served a First Amended Complaint adding three additional claims against
Ashton, alleging that Ashton improperly refused Rosensaft's request to sell
his Ashton stock.
Between April 10, 1997 and June 26, 1997, the Reporting Person endeavored to
work out a settlement with Rosensaft relating to the 750,000 shares.
On June 26, 1997, the Defendants served their answer and counterclaims
generally denying the allegations of the First Amended Complaint and
alleging six counterclaims against Rosensaft, including that (i) Rosensaft
acquired 1,100,000 shares of Ashton Common Stock from Ashton on the basis of
false and misleading statements and common law fraud and (ii) Rosensaft
breached his January 19, 1996 Consulting Agreement with Ashton (the
"Consulting Agreement") by (a) failing to carry out his duties as a
consultant under the Consulting Agreement, (b) violating the provisions of
the Consulting Agreement restricting his use of confidential information of
Ashton, (c) failing to adhere to the non-competition provisions of the
Consulting Agreement, (d) misappropriating for himself the property rights
of UTTC relating to Ashton's Universal Trading System ("UTS(TM)"), and (e)
failing to return to UTTC and/or Ashton valuable property and information,
including confidential documents and computer equipment belonging to UTTC
and/or Ashton.
Based on the information discussed above, the Reporting Person is not the
beneficial owner of the 750,000 shares of Common Stock referenced above.
(2) Subject to the terms and conditions of a Settlement Agreement, dated October
22, 1996, and in consideration for $250,000 payable by Fredric W.
Rittereiser to Helen J. Tate, as trustee for the Tate Trusts, Fredric W.
Rittereiser or his designee was granted the right and option (the "Call
Option") to purchase and acquire all of the 1,000,000 shares of Ashton
Common Stock held by the Tate Trusts for a total purchase price of
$4,500,000. The Call Option was exercisable at any time from April 2, 1997
to June 2, 1997. Mr. Rittereiser did not exercise this Call Option by June
2, 1997, and thus he is not the beneficial owner of these shares.
(3) Subject to the terms and conditions of a Settlement Agreement, dated October
22, 1996, Fredric W. Rittereiser granted to Raymond T. Tate the right and
option (the "Put Option"), exercisable by written notice to Fredric W.
Rittereiser or his designee, at any time during the period beginning at
12:00 a.m., New York time, on the business day immediately following
exercise of the Call Option and ending at 11:59 p.m. on the fifth business
day immediately following exercise of the Call Option (the "Put Exercise
Period"), to require Fredric W. Rittereiser or his designee to purchase and
acquire from Raymond T. Tate all 107,500 of the shares of Ashton common
stock owned by Mr. Tate for a total purchase price of $483,750. Since Mr.
Rittereiser did not exercise the Call Option by June 2, 1997, Mr. Tate
cannot exercise the Put Option.
