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Saturday, June 17, 2006 11:43:46 AM
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PLEASE READ:
NEW YORK, NY -- (MARKET WIRE) -- Apr 28, 2006 --
-- Proposed rule targets explosion of misleading spam email and fax
promotions on OTC stocks
-- Increased transparency and effective disclosure to protect investors
from "pump and dump" promotion schemes
Pink Sheets, LLC today proposed that the Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC") under the Securities Act of 1933 adopt rules mandating increased protections for investors against fraudulent activities by securities promoters and their sponsors. The proposed rule provides for full disclosure of the identity, compensation and relationships of all participants (i.e., issuers, sponsors, third party promoters, etc.) directly or indirectly engaged in the promotion of stocks in the over-the-counter (OTC) market. The rule also targets the flood of unsolicited spam emails and faxes promoting OTC securities to individual investors.
"We are requesting that the Commission take immediate action to expose securities promoters, spammers and their financiers whose actions are particularly detrimental to the livelihood of smaller public companies and to the confidence and financial well being of investors in OTC securities," said Cromwell Coulson, President and CEO of Pink Sheets, LLC. "Effective disclosure and enhanced transparency in the marketplace will facilitate a healthier trading environment that will benefit both issuers and investors in the OTC marketplace."
Under the principle that transparency is the most effective form of investor protection, Pink Sheets is advocating the following strategies to combat illegal promotion and unfair practices in the market for OTC securities:
-- Promotional materials must not just disclose that consideration was
paid for the promotion but identify the promoters and their sponsors
accurately, as well as provide current contact information for those
entities.
-- Adequate current information regarding the issuer must be publicly
available at the time the promotion takes place.
-- All securities held by promoters and their sponsors at the time the
promotion takes place is restricted and cannot be sold without registration
or an appropriate exemption.
-- Stock promoters must provide issuers of the stock that is being
promoted with a copy of all promotional materials.
-- Promoters, their sponsors and issuers must inform transfer agents and
broker-dealers that stock that is held by or on behalf of promoters and
their sponsors is restricted.
"We believe that putting these straightforward requirements in place will enable investors to easily identify fraudulent stock promotions and unveil the miscreants who engineer them. Any company that does not have current information available has no business promoting its securities, since investors cannot make reasonable investment decisions in an information vacuum. By cutting off the ability of promoters, sponsors and affiliated parties to dump these stocks into the market, the rule will render fraudulent promotions unprofitable and set the stage for legitimate small company issuers to deliver information to the marketplace," said Coulson.
The rule also targets the torrent of unsolicited and often illegal fax and email spam on obscure OTC securities. Spam-oriented securities promoters may be paid by issuers or affiliates of the issuer, or increasingly third parties that may or may not be affiliates of the issuer. In most cases, these securities promoters and those who finance them hope to turn a quick profit when unsuspecting investors buy stocks based on unsupported or spurious claims -- leading the stock's market value to plummet as soon as these promotional activities cease.
"There is hardly a household in America that has not been inundated with spam emails making fantastic claims about easy profits to be made by any purchaser of some obscure stock -- with many schemes being launched without the consent or even knowledge of the issuer. Given that the OTC markets play an essential role in the capital formation of smaller companies and provide a portal for overseas issuers seeking to access the American capital markets, the Pink Sheets is committed to working with regulators to create a more orderly and legitimate marketplace for all participants," Coulson concluded.
The full text of the proposed rules is available at: http://sec.gov/rules/petitions/petn4-519.pdf
About Pink Sheets, LLC
Pink Sheets, LLC is the leading provider of pricing and financial information for the over-the-counter (OTC) securities markets. Its centralized information network includes services designed to benefit market makers, issuers, brokers and OTC investors. Pink Sheets information enhances the efficiency of OTC trading, provides better executions for OTC investors and improves the capital formation process for OTC issuers. For more information visit the Pink Sheets website at www.pinksheets.com.
Contact:
R. Cromwell Coulson
Chairman and CEO
Pink Sheets, LLC
1 (212) 896-4400
issuers@pinksheets.com
or
Saskia Sidenfaden
Media Relations
CCG Investor Relations
1 (212) 477-9800 x120
saskia.sidenfaden@ccgir.com
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