OTC Markets Group Inc. (OTCM)

[fourinarow]

OTC Markets Changes Name.Related Quotes
Symbol Price Change
PINK.PK This symbol is now: OTCM.PK


{"s" : "","k" : "a00,a50,b00,b60,c10,g00,h00,l10,p20,t10,v00","o" : "","j" : ""} Press Release Source: OTC Markets Group Inc. On Tuesday January 18, 2011, 4:15 pm EST
NEW YORK, Jan. 18, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Pink OTC Markets Inc., operator of the largest electronic marketplace for broker-dealers to trade unlisted stocks, announced today that it has changed its name to "OTC Markets Group Inc." The Company's stock will continue to trade on OTCQX under its new symbol, "OTCM."

"As OTC Markets Group, we remain committed to providing broker-dealers, OTC-traded companies, advisors and investors with high-quality information and innovative technology services," said R. Cromwell Coulson, President and Chief Executive Officer. "Pink will always be a part of our history, and we will continue to use it to describe our lowest, speculative market tier. Today, our market is also home to a more investor-friendly group of companies that have chosen the quality-controlled OTCQX. The name change will attract better companies to our higher tiers and expand our opportunities to have other classes of unlisted securities on our platform."

"Our transformation began with the idea that allowing broker-dealers to electronically quote and negotiate trades in Pink Sheets securities would be a great improvement for all market participants," Mr. Coulson continued. "We built a network that allows leading broker-dealers to easily provide the best prices to investors, advertise their liquidity, and trade directly with their competitors. Next, we improved the investor experience by introducing market tiers to segment the OTC markets by levels of investor engagement and transparency. Companies choose which tier they qualify for based on the amount and quality of information they provide to investors. Investor focused companies are now incentivized to provide greater information to the marketplace so they can rise to the highest possible tier. With these fundamental changes, our information network brings transparency and connectivity to the unlisted markets."

The name change was previously approved by the Company's Board of Directors and shareholders in November 2010. The Company's interdealer quotation system, formerly known as Pink Quote, will now become OTC Link, and will also encompass the Company's trade messaging service, formerly known as Pink Link.

"The word 'Sheets' will be dropped from the description of our OTC Pink lower market tier to reflect the dynamic, real-time nature of the electronic marketplaces we operate. We will, instead, use the name Pink Sheets to refer to our historical static quote and reference price database as recognition of our long history as an information source to the financial markets," said Mr. Coulson.

In connection with its name change, the Company is releasing a new logo:

(Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20110118/MM31963LOGO )

In 2010, securities on OTCQX, OTCQB and OTC Pink traded $144 billion in dollar volume, making OTC Link the third largest U.S. equity trading venue after NASDAQ and the New York Stock Exchange. The combined market capitalization of securities traded on our venue is over $10 trillion.

Launched in 2007, OTCQX is the highest OTC market tier, and today accounts for 14% of the dollar volume traded in all stocks on the Company's platform. More recently, the Company introduced the OTCQB market tier to help investors identify OTC-traded companies that report to the SEC or banking regulators.

"We are proud of our success in increasing the availability of information to investors, and will continue to work to make the OTC marketplace open, transparent and connected," concluded Mr. Coulson.

About OTC Markets Group

OTC Markets Group Inc. (OTCQX: OTCM) operates the world's largest electronic marketplace for broker-dealers to trade unlisted stocks. Our OTC Link platform supports an open network of competing broker-dealers that provide investors with the best prices in over 10,000 OTC securities. In 2010, securities on OTC Link traded over $144 billion in dollar volume, making it the third largest U.S. equity trading venue after NASDAQ and the New York Stock Exchange. We categorize the wide spectrum of OTC-traded companies into three tiers– OTCQX (the quality-controlled marketplace for investor friendly companies), OTCQB (the U.S. reporting company marketplace for development stage companies), and OTC Pink (the speculative trading marketplace) -- so investors can identify the level and quality of information companies provide.

To learn more about how we make the OTC market more efficient and transparent, visit us at www.otcmarkets.com