Pink Sheets Further Revises Policy for Publishing Unsolicited Quotes in New Securities
New York, NY, February 6, 2006 – Pink Sheets has made a significant change to its policy regarding the publication of unsolicited quotes. Effective immediately, Pink Sheets is further limiting the publication of unsolicited quotes to securities of seasoned issuers only. After the policy changes we made in November 2005 to permit unsolicited quotes in securities of new issuers only after the submission of a Form 211 to the NASD, we had expected to see a change in the quality of the companies for which we received Unsolicited Quote Requests. By and large, this does not appear to be the case. Rather, we continue to get unsolicited quote requests for securities with very few shareholders and questionable operations - securities which in our view have limited chance for success in the NASD review process.
Brokers will no longer be able to publish unsolicited quotes for securities of new issuers that meet the following condition - "The Issuer is not subject to Section 13 or 15(d) of the Exchange Act. However, adequate current information concerning the issuer is publicly available via the Pink Sheets News Service." Please note that this change does not affect securities already quoted on Pink Sheets on an unsolicited basis, it applies only to the entry of new securities.
Pink Sheets will continue to permit the publication of unsolicited quotes under the following 5 conditions:
The Issuer of the securities is subject to Section 13 or 15(d) of the Exchange Act, is current in its filing obligations and has other seasoned securities currently trading on the NYSE, AMEX, NASDAQ, OTCBB or the Pink Sheets.
The securities were delisted from NYSE, AMEX, NASDAQ or the OTCBB.
The Issuer is a bank, savings and loan, or insurance company and is current in its regulatory filing obligations.
The securities were issued as part of a bankruptcy plan of reorganization.
The security being quoted is a foreign ordinary, which is listed on a foreign exchange, or an ADR representing such ordinaries.
We will also consider the publication of unsolicited quotes on behalf of a customer that is unaffiliated with the issuer under certain hardship conditions and other special circumstances. Pink Sheets as a matter of policy does not believe that the Unsolicited Quote Exemption should be used to circumvent the NASD’s 211 process.
Pink Sheets will gladly provide a refund for any monies paid to Pink Sheets for the Pink Sheets News Service by any issuer which subscribed to the service in anticipation of having its securities quoted on an unsolicited basis.
If you have any questions about this change, please Issuer Services at 212.896.4420.
