Summary - OTC Markets Group is offering a virtual panel discussion with the SEC's Office of the Advocate for Small Business Capital Formation on the experience of small, publicly-traded companies.
Key topics included in the discussion are:
Capital raising
Becoming a publicly-traded company
Secondary trading
Reporting & disclosure
Panelists include:
Martha Miller, SEC Advocate for Small Business Capital Formation
Dan Zinn, General Counsel of OTC Markets Group (OTCQX: OTCM)
Steve Bagley, CFO of Sono-Tek Corp. (OTCQX: SOTK)
Robert Schermer, CEO of Meritage Hospitality Group, Inc. (OTCQX: MHGU)
Lauren Ranalli, President & CFO of First Resource Bank (OTCQX: FRSB)
For more information and to access the discussion, please click here.
Summary - OTC Markets Group Inc. (OTCQX: OTCM), operator of financial markets for 10,000 U.S. and global securities, today announced the addition of 'Risk Scoring' to its Small Cap Listed Compliance Product. This latest enhancement provides broker-dealers and compliance and risk management teams with a quantitative metric to compare over 2,300 sub $500 million market cap U.S. exchange-listed securities.
Individual securities are assigned a total risk score based on 13 factors which provide a comprehensive view of the risk profile. Key risk factors include: promotion, hot sector status, penny stock status, shell status (current and past), price, market cap and trading volatility. The latest data set provides a more in-depth, analytical compliance snapshot to better evaluate small cap securities listed on the NYSE, NYSE American and Nasdaq.
"The ability to quickly assess and compare risk factors for individual small cap listed securities provides broker-dealers, risk management and compliance professionals with enhanced benchmarking and insight into this segment of the market," said Matthew Fuchs, Executive Vice President of Market Data and Strategy at OTC Markets Group. "Providing subscribers with efficient, comprehensive, real-time analytics tools continues to be our focus."
Risk Score Algorithm data also includes elements related to:
Delivered in pipe-delimited format, twice daily at 5:00 am (ET) and 7:00 pm (ET), the file is licensed at an enterprise level designed for broker-dealers, AML, compliance and risk management professionals looking to more effectively right-size small cap listed equity compliance.
For more information, please click here.
Summary - OTC Markets Group has released its newest white paper, which offers case studies for best practice tips from the winners and nominees of IR Magazine Awards - Small Cap. The white paper includes insights from portfolio managers about what they're looking for from an IR strategy in companies they invest.
According to the OTC Markets website, "the success of the nominees and winners reflects on a range of IR best practices, including:
For more information and to access the white paper, click here.
Summary - According to its website, the mission of OTC Markets to is "to provide companies with more efficient solutions to better engage and inform investors." In this mid year review, OTC Markets highlights that it welcomed nearly 200 companies to its OTCQX and OTCQB Markets and launched its Virtual Conference platform. It also moved into new office space in New York and London. These highlights and many more are reviewed in the report along with other key milestones.
For more information, please click here.
In December 2018, OTC Markets Group issues a guide for small-cap companies that focuses on M&A.
According to OTC Markets Group, “this report looks at M&A for small caps, including six reasons why a merger may be appealing for small cap companies, from driving faster growth, to exploring new avenues to increase shareholder value and returns, and more. It also examines strategies to ensure a successful merger, with tips for the two key phases: analysis and implementation, covering cash and non-cash considerations, calculating the purchase price, conducting due diligence and much more.”
To access the guide, please click here.
Source: OTC Markets
Companies that trade on OTC Markets often face the decision of whether to move to an exchange listing. This recent study provides evidence that U.S. issuers that move to an exchange prematurely often see a decline in value rather than value creation.
For more information, click here.
Source: OTC Markets
Summary - On September 26, OTC Markets Group was pleased to take part in the SEC's Roundtable on Regulatory Approaches to Combating Retail Investor Fraud, hosted by the Division of Trading and Markets. OTC Markets Group CEO Cromwell Coulson participated in a panel discussion on Trading Halts and General Counsel Dan Zinn spoke on a panel focused on Rule 15c2-11 and enhancing public disclosure requirements.
“Fraudulent and manipulative promotion schemes corrupt the efficient market pricing process, hinder small company capital formation, and harm retail investors,” said Cromwell Coulson, CEO. “Because regulation alone cannot address all sources of fraud, we must empower individuals with the information they need to make better-informed investment decisions. Shining the electric light of data-driven markets that incentivize corporate disclosure, combined with common-sense regulation, are the most effective investor protection tools.”
In conjunction with their participation in the Roundtable, OTC Markets Group submitted a list of targeted Regulatory Recommendations that would help to combat retail investor fraud, improve market efficiency and bring greater transparency to our public markets.
For more information, click here.
Source: OTC Markets
The Small Cap Listed Compliance Product allows firms to enhance their due diligence and establish a standardized framework to analyze securities across the listed and OTC equity small cap market.
The new product extends OTC Markets Group's compliance coverage in order to help AML and risk management teams holistically cover the US small cap market, which will benefit investors, market participants and small-cap issuers. The file, created twice daily, provides key compliance data for over 1,800 sub $500 million market cap equities listed on a national stock exchange, including:
Additional fields include Micro Cap Status; Security Name Change History; Current and Former Shell Status; and Stock Split History.
For more information, click here.
Source: OTC Markets
In August, OTC Markets Group announced that Action Stock Transfer, Manhattan Transfer Registrar Co., Mountain Share Transfer, Pacific Stock Transfer and Securities Transfer Corporation joined OTC Markets' Transfer Agent Verified Shares Program. Twenty-five transfer agents, representing 91% of US companies trading on our OTCQX and OTCQB, are now included among a distinguished roster of leading transfer agents that are working with OTC Markets Group to create better informed and more efficient financial markets.
Effective January 1, 2019, OTC Markets Group plans to require all US companies trading on the OTCQX and OTCQB Markets to provide verified share data through a transfer agent who participates in the Transfer Agent Verified Share Program.
OTCQX Rules Release for U.S. Companies and for U.S. Banks
For more information, click here.
Source: OTC Markets
International companies, with a primary listing outside the US, experienced a 28% increase in trading volume by number of shares within their home market after joining the OTCQX® Best Market, according to a new study released today by OTC Markets Group Inc. (OTCQX: OTCM). In addition, companies saw a 7-fold increase in US ownership.
For more information, click here.
Source: OTC Markets
Curious to see what has happened on the OTCQX and OTCQB Markets so far in 2018? Check out OTC's progress towards national Blue Sky status, new initiatives for 2018, events and more. Click here to view the OTC Mid-Year Review.
Source: OTC Markets
Summary - OTC Markets has recently published a comprehensive guide with IR Magazine for small-cap companies looking to raise capital and grow their business. The guide includes tips and checklists for IPO alternatives, capital raising, targeting the right investor and much more.
Click here for more information and to download the guide.
Source: IR Magazine
Summary - OTC Markets is pleased to share their latest Annual Review.
The document highlights the milestones and events from the past year as OTC Markets continued to champion access to efficient public trading markets for innovative and entrepreneurial companies.
Please take a moment to review the key developments on the OTCQX Best Market and the OTCQB Venture Market.
Summary - OTC Market Group recently submitted a comment letter on FINRA Rule 6432 to the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, Inc. (FINRA) in response to the request for comments on FINRA Rules Impacting Capital Formation.
Summary - OTC Markets Group has published proposed amendments to the OTCQB Standards. The proposal includes:
The entirety of the proposed Rules can be found here: OTCQB Standards
Below is a further description of each of these items:
Annual Fee
The Annual Fee is $12,000 (U.S.) for each twelve-month period, if paid in advance. In the alternative, the Company may opt to pay two semi-annual installments of $6,500 (U.S.).
Bid Price of $0.01 Eligibility Standard
Have proprietary priced quotations published by a Market Maker in OTC Link ATS with a closing bid price of at least $0.01 a) for each of the 30 calendar days immediately preceding the Company's application for OTCQB and b) as of the date OTC Markets Group approves its application to join the OTCQB market.
If there has been no prior public market for the Company's securities in the U.S. and FINRA has recently approved a Form 211 relating to the Company's securities with a bid price equal or greater to $0.01 or the Company's securities are traded on a Qualified Foreign Exchange at a price equal to or greater than $0.01, then the Company may apply in writing to OTC Markets Group for an exemption from Section 1.1(3)(a) of these OTCQB Standards, which exemption may be granted by OTC Markets Group in its sole and absolute discretion and subject to FINRA approval of the Form 211.
Any such exemption will be conditioned upon the bid price for such Company's securities remaining over $0.01 for each of the 30 calendar days immediately subsequent to the Company being first quoted on the OTCQB market.
Definitions
"Public Float" shall mean the total number of unrestricted shares not held directly or indirectly by an officer, director, any person who is the beneficial owner of more than 10 percent of the total shares outstanding, or any Affiliates thereof, or any Immediate Family Members of officers, directors and control persons.
"Affiliate" is a person that directly, or indirectly through one or more intermediaries, controls or is controlled by, or is under common control with, an officer, a director, or a shareholder beneficially-owning 10 percent or more of the Company's outstanding shares.
"Immediate Family Member" shall mean any child, stepchild, parent, stepparent, spouse, sibling, mother-in-law, father-in-law, son-in-law, daughter-in-law, brother-in-law, or sister-in-law of such director, executive officer or nominee for director, and any person (other than a tenant or employee) sharing the household of such officer, director, or control person.
Comment Period of 30 days:
OTC Markets Group welcomes your feedback about the proposed changes. Send comments and questions to Mike Vasilios, Vice President of Issuer Compliance at mike@otcmarkets.com by November 15, 2017.
Effective Date of Proposed Changes:
The proposed rules are scheduled to become effective January 1, 2018
Source: OTC Markets Group