Actually while it's FINRA that must be notified and paid for all corporate action filing I belive it's actually Nasdaq OTC Compliance Unit that makes the decisions, then after they set ex date, due bills date etc, they pass the info back to FINRA for publication on the Daily List (for BB's) or the Other-OTC Portal Daily List (for Pinks). Having said that, FINRA say they set ex date.
You are semi right, but ONLY when the divvy is "not quoted ex) that is the only time that the record date has any meaning as far as any split or dividend.
In all other cases no matter what the company wants, Nasdaq sets the all important Ex Dividend Date.
What rules govern the reporting of dividends; when must a company report a declaration of a dividend or other distribution? Please refer to Section 10b-17 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, which effectively requires that any OTC Equity issuer must provide FINRA operations with 10 days notice prior to engaging in any of the following corporate actions: (1) the issuance of a dividend or other distribution in cash or in kind; (2) a stock split or reverse split; or (3) a rights or other subscription offering. Failure by an OTC Equity issuer to provide the requisite notice constitutes fraud under Section 10 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934.
What is an "ex-dividend date"? The date on or after which a security begins trading without the dividend (cash or stock) included in the contract price. Please refer to NASD Rule 11140 to see how an ex-dividend date is set.
How does a company report a dividend? For all notifications of cash or stock dividends, send information via email.
What is the "record date" for a dividend? The date on which a company's records are closed to determine which stockholders are to be sent dividends, proxies, rights, etc.
What is the "payable date" for a dividend? The date the dividend is sent to the record owner of the security.
Who is the" shareholder of record"? The individual or entity that an issuer carries on its books as the registered holder (not necessarily the beneficial owner) of the issuer's securities.
Who is the beneficial owner? A person who benefits from ownership of a security or mutual fund. Shares or title may be held by a bank or broker for safety and convenience, or in "street name" to expedite transactions, but the actual owner is the beneficial owner.
What is meant by "street name"? A term given to securities held in the name of a broker on behalf of a customer. This arrangement allows shares to be transferred easily. If the stock were registered in the customer's name rather than the broker's name, physical certificates would need to be transferred.
What is a "due bill"? A promissory note that is physically attached to a stock that is traded between the record date and payment date. The due bill confirms the rightful owner of the additional securities being issued in the distribution.
What is a "due bill redemption date"? The date on which all outstanding due bills must be redeemed for the securities being distributed.
What is a "stock split"? The division of outstanding shares of a corporation into a larger number of shares (forward split) or a smaller number of shares (reverse split). For example: in a 3-for-1 forward split, a holder of 100 shares would receive 300 shares of the post-split security, In a 1-2 reverse split, a holder of 100 shares would receive 50 shares of the post-split security. In both examples, the proportionate equity in the company would remain the same.
What documents are required for a stock split? The company needs to complete the OTC Equity Issuer Notification form (PDF) and submit to FINRA no later than 10 calendar days prior to the record date of the corporate action. Submissions can be set via email or fax to (202) 689-3533. Failure by an OTC Equity issuer to provide the requisite notice constitutes fraud under Section 10 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934.
What documents are required for a Company to change its name? The company needs to complete the OTC Equity Issuer Notification form (PDF) and submit to FINRA no later than 10 calendar days prior to the record date of the corporate action. Submissions can be set via email or fax to (202) 689-3533. Failure by an OTC Equity issuer to provide the requisite notice constitutes fraud under Section 10 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934.
NASD Rule 11140 Note here that this notice uses NASD rather than FINRA which is NASD's new name a few years ago, but Rule is still called NASD so they never bothered to update the notice.
The National Association of Securities Dealers, Inc. (NASD®) Uniform Practice Code (UPC) governs, among other things, the designation of “ex-dividend dates” (ex-dates) for securities. The exdate is the date on or after which a security is traded without a specific dividend or distribution. Under NASD rules, there are two different methods used to determine the exdate of a security, depending upon the size of the dividend or distribution. This Notice reviews differences in the way ex-dates are determined and cautions members and their associated persons to be cognizant of these differences when providing ex-date information to customers.
NASD member firms or their registered representatives from time to time respond to customer inquiries regarding ex-dates relating to dividend and other distributions.
In some cases, customers have drawn erroneous conclusions regarding ex-dates. In particular, large dividends that result in the designation of ex-dates after the record and payable dates have caused confusion in the case of customers who effect sales transactions after the record date but before the payable date and believe therefore that they are entitled to keep the dividend.
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Rule 10b-17 requires issuers to give notice of dividends and distributions to the NASD no later than 10 days prior to the record date.1 The NASD then establishes the ex-date for the distribution and makes this information publicly available on a Daily Dividend List on the Nasdaq TraderSM Web Site (www.nasdaqtrader.com/dailylist/ dl_di_ind.stm), which shows the issuer name and symbol, declaration date, amount of dividend, the ex-date, the record date, and the payable date.
Determining The Ex-Date
UPC Rule 11140 governs the designation of ex-dates for securities. The ex-date is the date on or after which a security is traded without a specific dividend or distribution. The payable date is the date that the dividend is sent to the record owner of the security. Under the UPC, two methods are used to determine the ex-date of a security, depending on the size of the dividend or distribution.
Dividends Or Distributions Less Than 25 Percent Of Security Value
The first method, under subparagraph(b)(1) of Rule 11140, provides that for dividends or distributions that are less than 25 percent of the value of the subject security, the date designated as the ex-date shall be the second business day preceding the record date. For example, if the issuer of the security has announced a date falling on a Thursday as the record date of a distribution, the ex-date will be on Tuesday, two days earlier. The price of the stock is adjusted downward on the ex-date so that the amount of the distribution is reflected in the current stock price. Thus, in thisc example, Tuesday is the day on or after which a buyer would purchase the security without the dividend and the seller of the security would keep the dividend. If the sale occurred on Monday, a day earlier, the seller would not keep the dividend.
Dividends Or Distributions 25 Percent Or Greater Than Security Value
The second method, under subparagraph (b)(2) of Rule 11140, provides that for dividends or distributions that are 25 percent or greater of the value of the subject security, the ex-date shall be the first business day following the payable date. For example, if an issuer has announced August 10 as the record date and August 31 as the payable date, then the ex-date will be September 1, the first business day after the payable date. In this example, September 1 is the day on or after which a buyer would purchase the security without the dividend and, therefore, the day on which the price of the stock is adjusted downward. In this example, a seller of the security on August 15, even though the holder of record to receive the dividend, would have to relinquish the dividend to the buyer. Indeed, because the value of the security on August 15 has not yet been adjusted downward to reflect the dividend distribution, the seller in this example would be unjustly enriched by keeping the dividend. The seller would have received the value of the dividend twice: first, as fully reflected in the unadjusted price of the stock on August 15; and secondly, as subsequently paid by the company to record date holders.
This Notice reminds member firms and their associated persons that ex-dates are determined differently, depending on the size of the distribution. Current and historical dividend information is maintained by The Nasdaq Stock Market and can be found on the Nasdaq Trader Web Site at www.nasdaqtrader.com/dailylist/ dl_di_ind.stm.
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