Grey Market or Grey Sheet Q & A

[Cassandra]

What happens when the ten-day suspension period ends?

The SEC will not comment publicly on the status of a company when the ten-day suspension period ends because the company may still have serious legal problems. For instance, the SEC may continue to investigate a company to determine whether it has defrauded investors. The public would not know if the SEC is continuing its investigation unless the SEC publicly announces an enforcement action against the company.

Furthermore, when an SEC trading suspension ends, a broker-dealer generally may not solicit investors to buy or sell the previously-suspended over-the-counter (“OTC”) stock until certain requirements are met. Before soliciting quotations or resuming quotations in an OTC stock that has been subject to a trading suspension, a broker-dealer must file a Form 211 with the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (“FINRA”) representing that it has satisfied all applicable requirements, including those of Rule 15c2-11 and FINRA Rule 6432.

Among other things, Rule 15c2-11 requires broker-dealers to review and maintain certain documents and information about the company, including in certain cases:

1. the company’s state of organization, business line, and names of certain control affiliates;

2. the title and class of the securities outstanding; and

3. the company’s most recent balance sheet and its profit and loss and retained earnings statement.

No broker-dealer may solicit or recommend that an investor buy an OTC stock that has been subject to a trading suspension unless and until FINRA has approved a Form 211 relating to the stock. If there are continuing regulatory concerns about the company, its disclosures, or other factors, such as a pending regulatory investigation, a Form 211 application may not be approved.

http://www.sec.gov/investor/alerts/tradingsuspensions.pdf