When the fateful day arrived, it was as bad as penny fans had feared. The securities of more than 3,000 noncompliant issuers were unceremoniously dumped to the OTCMarkets’ “Expert Market,” also known as the Grey Market.
Since then, a few issuers have pulled up their socks, filed registration statements, or found a market maker willing to file a Form 211 for them with FINRA so they can go public.
They’ve moved back to the OTC Markets Pinks or the OTCQB. But most cannot be quoted publicly. And for reasons that have gone unexplained, U.S. brokers are unwilling to allow their clients to buy stock in them, though they’re free to sell old positions.
While there were still thousands of issuers trading OTC Markets, the thrill was gone.
It can’t be said the SEC’s actions had ushered in a new era of a clean and efficient penny stock market, but volumes had dropped, and many players who’d considered themselves day traders looked for greener fields.
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