Grey (or Expert) to Pink

[Big Brother]

Log into Schwab.com, in the top right there is a tab called 'Support', first selection down is the Chat option. This takes you more or less straight to a live broker, once you get past the AI bullshit questions.

[ErnieBilco]

1. Closing orders on this OTC Security must be placed with a broker

[ErnieBilco]

How do I get there? When I try all it does is go to standard info stuff.

[Big Brother]

Its pretty good and fast, much better than calling in. I've used it several times this week, you can close out Pink Limited or Expert Market tickers. I had them do a number of 'courtesy sales' for me, dumping some worthless EM securities I just had only accumulated a few shares of years ago.

You just have to answer these questions first....

Are you, or any member of your immediate family or household, an officer of, affiliate of, or have “control” with respect to the [issuer of the] security?

Do you hold 10% or more of outstanding shares in the security?

Do you have material non-public information related to the security?

[ErnieBilco]

Good to know, maybe I'll give it a shot

[Big Brother]

You can use Schwab's live chat to place closing orders on Pink Limited tickers, its a bit faster than calling in as you don't have to verify your identity, just answer the (3) questions that your not an insider, or have material information.

[ErnieBilco]

Schwab makes it really hard to trade with them, they want a phone call for no apparent reason other than it keeps someone employed. I like placing my own buys and sells so I'm building my Etrade account because they don't have even a 10th of the restrictions Chuckie does, unfortunately family's big money accounts are with Chuck due to their stealing TD Ameritrade.

I guess OTC markets just get farther and farther away from American investors while pandering to big money and offshore traders. IT IS NOT FAIR TO AMERICAN INVESTORS IMO

[Big Brother]

Its even worse now with this new OTCID market replacing Pink Current. Tons of tickers that were Pink Current but did not file the additional disclosure necessary to remain OTCID, were then downgraded to Pink Limited. Pink Limited is just basically a glorified Expert Market, as you can not trade these with my broker, Schwab, as opening transactions are not allowed. You might still be able to close out a position but that will require a phone call in to one of their reps, which is a pain in the ass.

[Hestheman47]

Exactly....

[ErnieBilco]

They are harming more than they are helping US investors by allowing the rest of the world to buy experts but they pretend they are "protecting" US investors, I don't need some gooberment types deciding what I can and can't invest my own money into.

You are right, we used to make very very good returns before they came to "help".

[Hestheman47]

I am currently not trading OTC whatsoever....but if I was I would REFUSE to buy any stock that just came off the expert market. I am not going to make "sophisticated investors" (who loaded the stock while on the EM) rich. These used to be OUR opportunities and were open to us on the bottom floor. How many traders made huge amounts of money off of reinstatement/RM and even bankruptcy plays? I have sent emails/social media messages to SEC/Paul Atkins telling them to open the expert market to quoting/retail trading. I wish others would take the time to do so. IHUB seems like a ghost town to me anymore.....

[Hestheman47]

Well said. Good post. The very concept of the expert market is corrupt. They need to open up expert market stocks to quoting and retail trading. We should be able to get in on the bottom floor of speculative reverse merger and even bankruptcy plays like we were once able to do. As you said, "sophisticated investors" are allowed to load these EM stocks and by the time those stocks make it back to retail/pink current......there is no profit to be made (except for the "sophisticated experts" who probably made thousands of percents gains....like WE USED TO). It is completely underhanded and corrupt. Everyone needs to write to new SEC chair Paul Atkins and tell him to rollback these changes that were made in 2020. Thanks for your efforts on IHUB and X as well......

[Sassy Cat Jenkins]

Finra has opened up comments on rule 15c2-11. There's only a few days left to comment so if you want to be heard about how it has negatively affected you, now is the time to speak up. If you can, feel free to share this link with everyone you know so we can try and get this rule removed. If you are familiar with this rule, you already know how much damage this rule has done to reverse mergers. Not only is it stopping small businesses from accessing capital, it has stripped our access to a free and fair market. We should be able to trade all stocks listed. Instead, this rule allows foreign and "sophisticated" traders the ability to dump on retail once a company becomes pink current. I hope you can all take the time to comment that would be greatly appreciated. Thanks for your time and I pray that we get more comments and get rid of this rule once and for all!  https://www.finra.org/rules-guidance/notices/25-06#notice  

[koolmc]

nice bodes well for the em market

[Quintessence]

AIMH Expert to Pink Current. Getting some volume.

[Quintessence]

BLIS expert to pink current

[Quintessence]

TLSS expert to pink current. So far it can't get past .0001

[Quintessence]

MGAM .01 Expert Market to Pink Current

[JMoneyHoops]

Team Doge asking public for help regarding SEC mismanagement: 

$OTCM Now is the time to let @DOGE_SEC know about how Rule 15c2-11 has impacted the OTC in a negative way $GVSI $LTNC $TGGI $ILUS $GEGI $BLUU $AIAD $JPEX $TXTM $CYBL $OPTI $HCMC $FTXP $IGEX $RITE $EEGI https://t.co/7AZOOfbRAS

— JMoney💸 (@jmoney_hoops) February 17, 2025

[mick]

merry christmas and to all.

[Hestheman47]

Could the OTC see an influx of new trading opportunities from Nasdaq penny stocks moving to OTC? https://news.slashdot.org/story/24/08/08/155218/nasdaq-has-hundreds-of-penny-stocks-now-its-trying-to-purge-them (read last paragraph about one of the proposed changes) This could be a good thing for OTC. However, Like I have always said....we still need the amendments to 15c2-11 rolled back and expert market to be opened up to retail preferably by moving those stocks to pink limited and brokers becoming more penny stock friendly.

[koolmc]

it will got a few that are expected to go pinks by end of jan

[Hestheman47]

Looks as though the guy Trump picked for SEC chairman is a major crypto advocate. https://www.axios.com/2024/12/04/paul-atkins-trump-sec-crypto which unfortunately means he will most likely not want to see the return of the OTC (it would mean less money to flow to crypto) I give up......OTC is never coming back.

[Hestheman47]

The incoming administration is the same one that was in power when 15c2-11 amendment was proposed. As Big Brother said.....they wanted OTC volume to go to big boards to prop them up. That being said....who knows, maybe a new SEC chair will have his own viewpoints and will rollback those regulations. There is always a chance. I really do want to see the OTC come back. It's depressing.

[creede]

Wow. I have heard of that happening, but I've never seen it myself. I have several now that are just numbers. I've been holding onto everything just in case. 

This really is the time of somebody wants to create a Robinhood like app for the OTC market. The incoming administration is all about less regulation and smaller government. 

[max122812]

I wish ADSV would get out of expert market. Fell in the trap in 2020 and been holding quite of bit in worthless shares now... sucks..

[jtomm]

I don't even know for sure (my guess is it was a number). I just saw this ticker that was up a huge percentage in my account that didn't look familiar. Looked up the company and that didn't even ring a bell. So I went in my transaction history and saw I had bought it in 2019, so it must have gotten revoked shortly thereafter.

[creede]

Wow. Was it just a number and not a ticker anymore?

[creede]

Nice. I'm hoping to get back into trading soon. 

[nsomniyak]

Getting re-reregistered is far rarer than a rebound from the EM!

[jtomm]

One would hope that things might change. A holding of mine from years ago got reinstated recently. RNGC (Ranger Gold) had its registration revoked in 2019, and just recently got reinstated. I still can't buy additional shares at my broker, can only sell. But hey, to be reinstated 5 years later is very unusual. At least it's something.

[Quintessence]

Just got ASPU today, but barely any volume yet.

[creede]

I have a feeling we are going to a fresh new batch of grey to pinks sooner or later. 

Can't help but feel optimistic after the last four weeks. 

Merry Christmas everyone!

[JMoneyHoops]

Appointed*

[JMoneyHoops]

Atkins appointees new SEC Chair, hopefully he revives OTC by getting rid of or adjusting SEC RULE 15C2-11 to allow FREEDOM of Trade on all securities

$OTCM $BTC $SPY SEND IT🚀🚀 https://t.co/KKA74W2a2p

— JMoney💸 (@jmoney_hoops) December 4, 2024

[getmoreshares]

BCAP-- put it on your watch list-- its coming back to the markets. Filings submitted.

[Quintessence]

DREM and MITI expert to Pink Current

[JMoneyHoops]

$OTCM $BTC $SPY Here We Go⏳ https://t.co/CwzOyk5Iga

— JMoney💸 (@jmoney_hoops) November 8, 2024

[JMoneyHoops]

$OTCM @elonmusk @realDonaldTrump @SenateGOP Save the OTC and abolish SEC Rule 15c2-11, it prevents freedom of trade! @SuperRobotOTC @ChaseMacTrades @Kanye_Invest @og_tigress @LongerThanMost @smallcapvoice https://t.co/YrBPEMFNrQ

— JMoney💸 (@jmoney_hoops) November 6, 2024

[Lime Time]

2 CEs cleared today. WRPT and NRHI

[JMoneyHoops]

So disgusting hopefully brokers allow trading to ALL Securities soon

[Big Brother]

Funny thing is that trades of companies without current info, only made up like 2% or less of the total OTC dollar volume, even going back to the mid 2010's, so it was never really that big of a deal to begin with, it was just another excuse to push some new regulation and another nail in the OTC coffin.

[Hestheman47]

Seems like they wanted to screw with retail again with that announcement. Those tier changes don't mean a thing if the expert market continues to exist. Time to accept it....OTC is gone for good.

[Hestheman47]

Well, that sucks. Bubble bursted LOL. As long as the "expert market" exists, I will not be trading these. Bummer.

[Big Brother]

I would not get too excited yet, OTCM has already edited the blog post from what they had originally. Both the Expert Market and the Pink Limited Market will exist.... as it does now.

In July 2025, Pink Current will become OTCID – a Basic Reporting Market for companies that meet a minimal current information standard and provide management certifications. Issuers that do not provide updated information will shift to the Pink Limited Market or to the Expert Market.

Over the past 25 years, OTC Markets Group (OTCQX: OTCM) has modernized the OTC market from the paper Pink Sheets® to regulated, real-time trading systems that facilitate trading in over 12,000 securities, totaling hundreds of billions of dollars in transactions each year. Our markets are global – trading in international companies represents more than 90% of our total dollar volume. The largest trading firms in the world ingest our real-time market data, financial information and compliance files.

First Principle: Open, Transparent and Connected markets that empower regulated broker-dealers to lawfully trade any security that has investor demand.

Organizing markets and connecting investors and brokers to company information has driven our evolution. On our OTCQX and OTCQB markets — qualified companies engage with investors by meeting a series of financial and disclosure standards. We built processes that allow companies to verify their credentials, provide ongoing disclosure and demonstrate their compliance with federal and state securities laws. These advancements empower public companies to create an information experience that, from an electronic perspective, looks and feels like every other equity market around the world. We provide investor-focused companies functionality to take ownership of their symbols and access a wider range of brokers and investors. Over time, the OTCQX and OTCQB markets have become widely accepted and understood by broker-dealers, regulators and investors. The financial ecosystem now relies on a rich stream of market data and company information to make trading and investment decisions in OTCQX and OTCQB traded securities.

Similarly, the lower segments of our market – the ‘Pink’ markets – provide important information for brokers and investors. Through our risk flags, we highlight a range of risks and specifically address anonymous promotion. While our market integrity initiatives have improved market quality, they also highlight the asymmetries and trading inefficiencies that result when there is no direct connection with the issuer.

Second Principle: Greater issuer engagement drives market quality, price efficiency and trading volumes by improving visibility, information availability, data integrity and compliance.

As we have increased the qualitative and quantitative standards of our OTCQX and OTCQB markets, it has become apparent that we need a home for companies that actively provide ongoing disclosure and demonstrate compliance with securities laws, but cannot qualify for OTCQX or OTCQB. That realization leads us to take the next step in organizing our markets.

In July 2025, Pink Current will become OTCID – a Basic Reporting Market for companies that meet a minimal current information standard and provide management certification, without the qualitative standards of our OTCQX and OTCQB markets.

Engaged, transparent and compliant companies are better for public markets.

Issuers that do not provide updated information, ongoing reporting and the required management certifications will see their securities transition to the Pink Limited Market or to the Expert Restricted Market, whichever is applicable. This will make it clear that the issuer has no ongoing relationship with OTC Markets Group, while still allowing broker-dealers to serve clients willing to trade these securities. The “Pink” branding is well suited to warn investors of the potential for market imperfections, issuer information asymmetries and other risks of these orphaned securities.

Looking Ahead

We will publish the requirements later this year to give companies ample time to provide the information required to meet the new market eligibility standards for the OTCID Market.

As markets become further electronic, current data from compliant companies will increasingly matter, for both corporate reputations and share valuations. The best companies will seek to stream the highest quality information to the broadest set of investors in the US and around the world.

The original:

In July 2025, Pink Current will become OTCID – a Basic Reporting Market for companies that meet a minimal current information standard and provide management certifications. Issuers that do not provide updated information will shift to the Pink Limited Market.

Over the past 25 years, OTC Markets Group (OTCQX: OTCM) has modernized the OTC market from the paper Pink Sheets® to regulated, real-time trading systems that facilitate trading in over 12,000 securities, totaling hundreds of billions of dollars in transactions each year. Our markets are global – trading in international companies represents more than 90% of our total dollar volume. The largest trading firms in the world ingest our real-time market data, financial information and compliance files.

First Principle: Open, Transparent and Connected markets that empower regulated broker-dealers to lawfully trade any security that has investor demand.

Organizing markets and connecting investors and brokers to company information has driven our evolution. On our OTCQX and OTCQB markets — qualified companies engage with investors by meeting a series of financial and disclosure standards. We built processes that allow companies to verify their credentials, provide ongoing disclosure and demonstrate their compliance with federal and state securities laws. These advancements empower public companies to create an information experience that, from an electronic perspective, looks and feels like every other equity market around the world. We provide investor-focused companies functionality to take ownership of their symbols and access a wider range of brokers and investors. Over time, the OTCQX and OTCQB markets have become widely accepted and understood by broker-dealers, regulators and investors. The financial ecosystem now relies on a rich stream of market data and company information to make trading and investment decisions in OTCQX and OTCQB traded securities.

Similarly, the lower segments of our market – the ‘Pink’ markets – provide important information for brokers and investors. Through our risk flags, we highlight a range of risks and specifically address anonymous promotion. While our market integrity initiatives have improved market quality, they also highlight the asymmetries and trading inefficiencies that result when there is no direct connection with the issuer.

Second Principle: Greater issuer engagement drives market quality, price efficiency and trading volumes by improving visibility, information availability, data integrity and compliance.

As we have increased the qualitative and quantitative standards of our OTCQX and OTCQB markets, it has become apparent that we need a home for companies that actively provide ongoing disclosure and demonstrate compliance with securities laws, but cannot qualify for OTCQX or OTCQB. That realization leads us to take the next step in organizing our markets.

In July 2025, Pink Current will become OTCID – a Basic Reporting Market for companies that meet a minimal current information standard and provide management certification, without the qualitative standards of our OTCQX and OTCQB markets.

Engaged, transparent and compliant companies are better for public markets.

Issuers that do not provide updated information, ongoing reporting and the required management certifications will see their securities transition to the Pink Limited Market. This will make it clear that the issuer has no ongoing relationship with OTC Markets Group, while still allowing broker-dealers to serve clients willing to trade these securities. The “Pink” branding is well suited to warn investors of the potential for market imperfections, issuer information asymmetries and other risks of these orphaned securities.

Looking Ahead

We will publish the requirements later this year to give companies ample time to provide the information required to meet the new market eligibility standards for the OTCID Market.

As markets become further electronic, current data from compliant companies will increasingly matter, for both corporate reputations and share valuations. The best companies will seek to stream the highest quality information to the broadest set of investors in the US and around the world.

[Hestheman47]

Hopefully the changes will now allow us to buy reverse merger/custodianship plays like before......rather than being opportunities for only "sophisticated investors". What a bunch of corrupt B.S. that was.

[Hestheman47]

I have not played penny stocks since the new rules took effect. In July, I will be returning......I think it will be a great opportunity.

[Hestheman47]

When we get closer to July and the new tier system.....I will most likely open an Etrade account. Hopefully, Schwab will become more penny stock friendly with these changes. On the surface, i really don't see why these changes could not lead to an excellent comeback for penny stocks......as long as the brokers play ball and perhaps some of the high rollers return to the OTC market. Hopefully we will see brokers allowing trades on expert market stocks in the meantime......not likely, but there is a chance.

[ErnieBilco]

Dealing with anyone lower than a supervisor is a waste of time IMO. I think most of their employees have a map to work and ride the short bus.

I'm on month 4 of getting control of my parents accounts since they are in their 90s and I've traded their accounts for the past 8 years, every month or so I get a new batch of "corrected" paperwork from them to sign then take over to my folks to have them sign again and again until the next batch of "corrected" paperwork arrives.

Very frustrating and I have a short fuse to start with.

[Big Brother]

I had some shares of a stock that had been revoked and had no ticker symbol any longer, I just wanted it removed from my account as a worthless security for tax purposes. Good grief, I had to go though three tiers of 'customer service', was on the phone for about 30 minutes, then finally to a supervisor who removed them. They didn't know what was going on, it was like something they had never seen or heard of before, TDA use to just remove them in no time. I didn't think anyone could be more worthless than TDA customer service but Schwab might actually be worse.