Here’s my logic on why I don’t think the CE is still in place because of the SEC case.
Firstly, the SEC case has been going on for over three years now, everybody knows about it, it’s in plain sight, why wasn’t the CE placed over the past three years if that was a concern?
Secondly, if indeed this stock was a danger to investors, the SEC itself would have stopped the trading. They don’t need OTC markets to put a CE on it to save potential investors. They would’ve just done it themselves.
Thirdly, if indeed OTC markets told Rik that he has to resolve the SEC issue before they remove the CE, that means that OTC markets is interfering in a civil case by putting pressure on someone who is as of yet not proven guilty, an innocent person is being forced by an SEC surrogate to bend to their will. Completely unethical at minimum, and possibly illegal. For an institution that handles millions and millions of dollars, I’m sure they are very very careful to not do this type of thing. What if they keep the CE on until the end of the trial and he’s exonerated? The liability for OTC markets would be backbreaking! So that’s why I think they wouldn’t dare put pressure on an as of yet innocent person to compromise his rights to fare trial without a gun to his head
Now, why is the CE still in place? If indeed Rik has complied with all their demands, in my opinion the CE is still on to give it weight. If a CE could easily be removed after 30 or 60 days by merely filing paperwork, it wouldn’t be this scary thing now would it?
So I believe the CE is still on for punitive reasons, and to teach the next guy to not break the rules. Of course if someone on this board can show us another stock that had its CE removed promptly after 30 or 60 days, then this theory of course would be wrong. OTC markets website says that a CE will be placed for a minimum of 30 days, they don’t say that it will be removed after 30 days.
