FINRA Halts All OTC Trading
(Updated - November 7, 2013 1:31 PM EST)
Earlier today, FINRA halted trading in all OTC Equity Securities pursuant to FINRA Rule 6440(a)(3).
FINRA determined to impose a temporary halt because of a lack of current quotation information. Therefore, FINRA has determined that halting quoting and trading in all OTC Equity Securities is appropriate to protect investors and ensure a fair and orderly marketplace.
The trading and quotation halt began on Thursday, November 7, 2013, at 11:25:00 a.m. E.T. FINRA will notify the market when trading may resume.
Stocks like AMR Corporation (OTC: AAMRQ), Fannie Mae (OTC: FNMA), and Freddie Mac (OTC: FMCC) have been impacted.
UPDATE: A spokeswoman for FINRA said the problem lies with OTC Markets, which was having problems with their systems today.
UPDATE 2: A company spokeswomen from OTC Markets said a "connectivity issue" is to blame for today's halt, although they did not request the FINRA halt.
She said the systems remain down, although they are working on the problem. An estimated time the system will be back up could not be given, the spokeswoman said.
When asked if they have seen a problem like this before, the spokeswoman said "not to this extent."