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Once a broker-dealer receives an order, they often go through the following steps/decisions as part of the trading process.
The most difficult decision is the investment decision which should be based on thorough research on the company and security. OTCMarkets.com provides investors with comprehensive, in-depth data, including trade data, company news, and company financials to help facilitate an investor’s investment decisions.
The opposite is true for illiquid securities. Liquidity depends on a number of forces including supply and demand, price transparency, trading history, market venue, market participants and freely tradable shares (public float).
In order to reduce the likelihood of fraud, we encourage you to become more knowledgeable about the OTC market, your rights as an investor, and the companies in which you are investing.
In addition to publishing quotes, OTC Link provides, among other things, subscribers the ability to send and receive trade messages, allowing them to communicate for the purpose of negotiating trades.
FINRA may halt trading and quotations in OTC Equity Securities in very limited circumstances where FINRA determines it is necessary to protect investors and the public interest. FINRA will exercise this authority only when 1) the OTC Equity Security or the security underlying an OTC ADR is halted on either a U.S. exchange or a foreign securities exchange or when FINRA determines that an extraordinary event has occurred that has a material effect on the market or may cause major disruption to the marketplace and/or significant uncertainty in the settlement and clearance process.
The margin account agreement generally provides that the securities in your margin account may be lent out by the brokerage firm at any time without notice or compensation to you. The firm's lending of securities does not affect the value of your account.
Real-time Level 2 quotes are available for sponsored securities, and all OTCQX securities on OTCMarkets.com. Real-time Level 2 quotes and trades for all other OTC securities are available on OTC Dealer.
Plain speak: In most cases, FINRA approval of Form 211 is required for new quotation on OTC Link or the OTC Bulletin Board.
At such instances, as a matter of policy, when adequate current information is not made available, OTC Markets will label the security as "Caveat Emptor." Promotional activities may include spam email, unsolicited faxes or news releases, whether they are published by the issuer or a third party.
OTCQX is the intelligent marketplace for the best OTC companies with the highest financial standards and superior information availability.
The OTC market provides an alternative to stock exchange listing for securities of issuers that either choose not to be listed on a U.S. stock exchange or do not meet the relevant listing requirements. The term ‘OTC security’ is a catch–all phrase for any security that is not listed on a U.S. stock exchange.
Market Order – a market order does not have a set price and is therefore executed immediately at the current ‘market’ price. Markets, especially OTC markets, can be highly volatile and therefore the price of execution may differ dramatically from the price at time of order entry. Those who use market orders are more concerned about the speed of the execution as opposed to the price.
Limit Order – a limit order does have a set price and therefore may only be executed at the set price; however, a limit order may never get executed because the market may move away from the set price. Those who use limit orders risk not having a order executed.
Under the Securities Act of 1933, a company that offers or sells its securities must register the securities with the SEC or find an exemption from the registration requirements. The Act provides companies with a number of exemptions. For some of the exemptions, such as rules 505 and 506 of Regulation D, a company may sell its securities to what are known as "accredited investors."
The OTCQX tier includes both multinational companies seeking access to U.S. investors and domestic growth companies.[12] To be traded on this tier, companies undergo a qualitative review by OTC Markets Group.[13] Companies are not required to be registered with or reporting to the SEC, but must post financial information with OTC Markets Group.
Real-time Level 2 quotes are available for sponsored securities, and all OTCQX securities on OTCMarkets.com. Real-time Level 2 quotes and trades for all other OTC securities are available on OTC Dealer.
A good starting point for research is the OTC market tier structure – which quickly indicates the level and timeliness of information available for OTC companies.
OTC Link LLC (OTC Link) is an electronic inter-dealer quotation system that displays quotes, last-sale prices, and volume information in exchange-listed securities, OTC equity securities, foreign equity securities and certain corporate debt securities.
Setting qualification standards for securities industry professionals; examining members for their financial and operational condition, as well as their compliance with appropriate rules and regulations; investigating alleged violations of securities laws; disciplining violators of applicable rules and regulations; and responding to inquiries and complaints from investors and members.
With over 275 companies and a combined market capitalization of $1 Trillion, investors are drawn to the transparency, disclosure and quality-control which OTCQX provides.
Firms may also negotiate trades over the phone. While the same process and rules apply, the speed with which trades are executed is inherently slower than OTC Link.
A decentralized market of securities not listed on an exchange where market participants trade over the telephone, facsimile or electronic network instead of a physical trading floor. There is no central exchange or meeting place for this market.
There are many thinly-traded OTC securities which are not traded every day by broker-dealers.
There is a public interest concern associated with the company. This may include a spam campaign, stock promotion or known investigation of fraudulent activity committed by the company or insiders. During a spam campaign, any stock that is not in the Current Information category will also have its quotes blocked.
Broker-dealers cannot use their knowledge of customer orders to provide customers with inferior prices. For example, buying a security for less than a known Limit Order price and then selling the security to the customer at the Limit Order price.
OTC Markets has determined that there is a public interest concern regarding the security. Such concerns may include but are not limited to promotion, spam or disruptive corporate actions even when adequate current information is available.
There are several websites, including commercial ones, where you can search for unclaimed property. One non-commercial site, the National Association of Unclaimed Property Administrators, allows you to search by individual state.
The NYMEX has created a clearing mechanism for a slate of commonly traded OTC energy derivatives which allows counterparties of many bilateral OTC transactions to mutually agree to transfer the trade to ClearPort, the exchange's clearing house, thus eliminating credit and performance risk of the initial OTC transaction counterparts.
FINRA members must report their short interest positions in all OTC Equity Securities mid-month and end-of-month. Short interest reporting brings more transparency to the short selling activities by member firms, and reduces the possibility of manipulative behavior associated with naked short selling.
Market Orders direct the broker-dealer to immediately execute either a buy or sell order at the current ‘market price’ – the best bid or offer.
Broker-dealers often receive buy and sell orders that ‘match’ – meaning, someone is willing to sell a security for the same price someone else is willing to buy the same security. In this situation, broker-dealers will execute the trade “internally”.
An over-the-counter contract is a bilateral contract in which two parties agree on how a particular trade or agreement is to be settled in the future. It is usually from an investment bank to its clients directly. Forwards and swaps are prime examples of such contracts. It is mostly done via the computer or the telephone. For derivatives, these agreements are usually governed by an International Swaps and Derivatives Association agreement. This segment of the OTC market is occasionally referred to as the "Fourth Market."
OTC Markets Group, Inc. (OTCQX: OTCM), headquartered in New York City, operates a financial marketplaces platform providing price and liquidity information for almost 10,000[3] over-the-counter (OTC) securities. OTC-traded securities are organized into three marketplaces to inform investors of opportunities and risks: OTCQX, OTCQB and OTC Pink.
Although they may not be required to make financial information available to the public, many OTC-traded companies do so voluntarily. You can search our Financial Reports to obtain the reports of any issuer that has voluntarily provided their financials and other disclosure to investors via the OTC Disclosure and News Service.
Quotes for all OTC securities are available on OTCMarkets.com by entering a symbol in the quote search area at the top left of any page. All OTCQX securities display real-time level 2 quotes while all OTCQB and OTC Pink securities display real-time inside (best bid and ask) quotations. Quotes are updated from 6:00 AM to 4:00 PM on all trading days.
Compliance with the Information Requirement of SEA Rule 15c2-11 – To initiate quotations on an inter-dealer quotation system for an OTC security not currently being quoted or to resume quotations after a four day absence or SEC suspension, a market maker must submit a Form 211 to FINRA. Once FINRA approves the 211, the market maker may submit a quotation to the applicable inter-dealer quotation system(s) they selected on the Form 211.
Compliance with the Information Requirement of SEA Rule 15c2-11 – To initiate quotations on an inter-dealer quotation system for an OTC security not currently being quoted or to resume quotations after a four day absence or SEC suspension, a market maker must submit a Form 211 to FINRA. Once FINRA approves the 211, the market maker may submit a quotation to the applicable inter-dealer quotation system(s) they selected on the Form 211.
Be certain that you fully understand the distinctions among these terms, and be certain that the risk level you choose accurately reflects your investment goals. Be sure that the investment products recommended to you reflect the category of risk you have selected.
Companies that follow the International Reporting Standard or the Alternative Reporting Standard by making filings publicly available through the OTC Disclosure