Candlewood Hotel Co Inc (CNDL)

[janice shell]

The easiest way--theoretically, though not practically--would be to require ALL public company to register with the SEC. And then to require them to disclose their status in their home state quarterly. The chief problem is with OTC issuers, and they're not required to make any disclosure at all. Nor is what they do disclose ever checked for accuracy, unless they attract the attention of Enforcement.

Another problem is that there's no way the SEC can get rid of zombie tickers. If those tickers literally don't trade at all for a few years, FINRA can delete them, but that's the only option. Between 2012 and 2016, the SEC did what it could, using Operation Shell Expel to suspend dormant shell companies and knock them to the Greys. There, they lost their attractiveness to potential hijackers. But there haven't been any mass suspensions for a couple of years now, and the shell vendors are back in business.

Of course, if all public companies were required to register with the SEC, those that went dormant could simply have their registration revoked.