I am not an expert in this, but my understanding is you can declare a stock worthless and declare a capital loss in the year that it became worthless. When a company goes bankrupt then the stock might still have some value, but most brokers will allow you to sell the stock for $1 to remove it.
In your case, if the bankruptcy never closed and is still in question - which seems unlikely after 17 years, it would seem that the broker is unreasonable. What is there reason for not removing the listing?
In any event, it is probably will beyond the 3 year statute of limitations to be able to take a loss 17 years old.
**Disclaimer: This post is for discussion purposes only and is NOT tax advice. The author takes no responsibility for the accuracy of any information in this post.**
