type public traded as otcqx otcm industry financial services predecessor national quotation bureau pink sheets pink otc markets founded 1913 1913 headquarters new york city new york united states key people r. cromwell coulson president chief executive officer and director 1 revenue us 49.9 million 2015 2 operating income us 16.9 million 2015 2 net income us 10.3 million 2015 2 total assets us 36.2 million 2015 2 total equity us 17.5 million 2015 2 divisions otc link ats market data licensing corporate services website www.otcmarkets.com otc markets group previously known as pink sheets is a united states financial market providing price and liquidity information for almost 10 000 over the counter otc securities . 3 the group has its headquarters in new york city . otc traded securities are organized into three markets to inform investors of opportunities and risks otcqx otcqb and pink . r. cromwell coulson president chief executive officer and director contents 1 history 2 markets 2.1 otcqx 2.2 otcqb 2.3 pink 2.3.1 pink current information 2.3.2 pink limited information 2.3.3 pink no information 2.3.4 caveat emptor buyer beware 3 other otc markets 3.1 otcbb 3.2 grey market 4 references 5 external links history edit the company was first established in 1913 as the national quotation bureau nqb . for decades the nqb reported quotations for both stocks and bonds publishing the quotations in the paper based pink sheets and yellow sheets respectively . the publications were named for the color of paper on which they were printed . in september 1999 the nqb introduced the real time electronic quotation service . 4 the national quotation bureau changed its name to pink sheets llc in 2000 and subsequently to pink otc markets in 2008 . the company eventually changed to its current name otc markets group in 2010 . 5 today a network of over 100 broker dealers price and trade a wide spectrum of securities on the otc markets platform . 5 to be quoted on the platform companies are not required to file with the sec although many choose to do so . 6 a wide range of companies are quoted on otc markets including firmly established foreign firms mostly through american depositary receipts adrs . 7 in addition many closely held extremely small and thinly traded u.s. companies have their primary trading on the otc markets platform . many foreign issuers adhere to the listing requirements of qualified foreign stock exchanges 8 and make their home country disclosure available in english . 9 there are also a significant number of u.s. based issuers who are current in their reporting to regulators 10 such as the u.s. securities and exchange commission sec or make available ongoing quarterly and audited annual financial reports through otc markets group . 9 many companies in the pink market tier of the otc categorization system do not meet the united states listing requirements for trading on a stock exchange such as the new york stock exchange or nasdaq . many of these issuers do not file periodic reports or make available audited financial statements making it very difficult for investors to find reliable unbiased information about those companies . for these reasons the sec views many of the lower tier companies traded on otc markets as among the most risky investments and advises potential investors to heavily research the companies in which they plan to invest . 11 markets edit otc markets group designates securities in one of three markets to indicate the level of financial and corporate disclosure provided by the companies using its quotation system . apart from the otcqx market which has rules that include financial requirements the designations do not signify issuer quality or merit of any security . designation is based on the level and timeliness of a company s disclosure and otcqb and any of the pink categories can include both high quality as well as speculative distressed or questionable companies . investors are encouraged to use caution when considering many of these companies for investment . 10 the otcqx and otcqb markets are considered established public markets by the sec for the purpose of determining the public market price when registering securities for resale with the sec in equity line financings . 12 otcqx edit the otcqx market includes both multinational companies seeking access to u.s. investors and domestic growth companies . 13 to be traded on this tier companies must undergo a qualitative review by otc markets group . 14 companies are not required to be registered with or reporting to the sec but they must post financial information with otc markets group . in addition u.s. companies must be ongoing operations i.e. no shells and may not be in bankruptcy while foreign issuers must meet the requirements of qualified foreign exchanges . 9 15 additional oversight of otcqx securities is provided by requiring every issuer to be sponsored by approved third party investment banks or law firms called principal american liaison pal for non u.s. issuers and designated advisors for disclosure dads for u.s. issuers . 9 13 15 otcqb edit the otcqb market contains a one penny 0.01 bid price requirement intended to remove companies that are most likely to be the subject of dilutive stock fraud schemes and promotions . each company verifies via an annual otcqb certification signed by the company ceo or cfo that their company information is current including information about a company s reporting status company profile information on management and boards major shareholders law firms transfer agents and ir pr firms . investor confidence improves when there is more information about a company s ownership structure professional advisors and service providers . this certification will be required for any security newly qualified to be publicly quoted by a broker dealer under sec rule 15c2 11 or when an pink traded company becomes a current sec reporting company beginning may 1 2014 . international reporting companies are also allowed to upgrade from pink to otcqb if they publish their 12g3 2 b compliant disclosure online and verify their company profile . there is an annual fee for the otcqb market of 10 000 per year and a one time 2 500 application fee . 16 pink edit pink is an open market that has no financial standards or reporting requirements . the stock of companies in the pink tier are not required to be registered with the sec . companies in this category are further categorized by the level and timeliness of information they provide to investors and may have current limited or no public disclosure . 17 pink current information edit companies submitting regular quarterly and annual reports go into the current category . this category can still include shell companies or development stage companies with little or no operations as well as companies without audited financial statements . companies in this category must not only have quarterly reports duly posted every three months but most have annual reports for at least the preceding two years on file . 18 pink limited information edit companies that have submitted information no older than six months to the otc markets data and news service or have made a filing on the sec s edgar system in the previous six months are rated as having limited information . companies that are unwilling or unable to meet otc markets guidelines for providing adequate current information with quarterly and annual reports every three months but which still submit information at least every six months are in this category . these are often companies with financial reporting problems economic distress or in bankruptcy . these companies have a yield sign on the otc website . 18 pink no information edit this tier indicates companies that are unwilling or unable to provide disclosure to the public markets . companies in this category do not make current information available via otc markets disclosure and news service or if they do the available information is older than six months . this category includes defunct companies that have ceased operations as well as dark companies with questionable management and market disclosure practices . securities of publicly traded companies that are not willing to provide information to investors are considered highly risky . these companies have a stop sign on the otc website . caveat emptor buyer beware edit there is a public interest concern associated with the company . this may include a spam campaign stock promotion or known investigation of fraudulent activity committed by the company or through inside information . during a spam campaign any stock that is not in the current information category will also have its quotes blocked on otcmarkets.com . other otc markets edit main article over the counter finance otcbb edit the otc bulletin board otcbb is only a listing of securities that are also traded over the counter similar to the otc markets . the otcbb as an exchange was closed by owner finra . otcbb companies are required to file timely reports to a u.s. regulatory agency . almost all otcbb companies are now quoted via otc markets otc link ats because its fully electronic trading platform better meets the needs of automated broker dealers . grey market edit securities that are not listed on any stock exchange nor formally quoted on otc markets or otcbb are considered to be in the grey market . unsolicited transactions are processed independently and not centrally listed or quoted . trades are reported to a self regulatory organization sro which then passes the data on to market data companies . references edit otc markets group inc ceo and executives businessweek . bloomberg businessweek . retrieved 8 august 2012 . a b c d e otc markets group inc. 2015 annual report pdf . otc markets group . retrieved 2 march 2016 . peterson kristina october 20 2010 . the pink sheets tries to change its colors . the wall street journal . retrieved 8 august 2012 . history of otc markets groups . otc markets group . retrieved 8 august 2012 . a b history of otc markets group . otc markets group . retrieved 8 august 2012 . otc markets 101 securities lawyer 101 . hamilton & associates law group . retrieved 8 august 2012 . sharon justin aug 2 2012 . in the pink otc stocks offer peril along with potential profit . minyanville . retrieved 8 august 2012 . otcqx qualified foreign exchanges . otcqx international . retrieved 8 august 2012 . a b c d otcqx requirements & fees . otcqx international . retrieved 8 august 2012 . a b learn otc market tiers . otc markets group . retrieved 8 august 2012 . otc markets group inc. formerly known as pink otc markets inc. . u.s. securities and exchange commission . retrieved 8 august 2012 . the otcqx and otcqb are finally recognized as established public markets by the sec . legal and compliance llc . retrieved 8 march 2016 . a b avery simon november 24 2011 . canadian firms try different route to u.s. investors . the globe and mail . retrieved 9 august 2012 . learn otcqx admission . otc markets group . retrieved 8 august 2012 . a b otcqx requirements & fees . otcqx u.s. retrieved 8 august 2012 . otcqb new listing requirements . otc markets . 16 april 2014 . retrieved 25 april 2014 . investopedia . a b otc markets . external links edit official website sec information about otc markets sec listing and delisting requirements retrieved from https en.wikipedia.org w index.php title otc markets group & oldid 727944850 categories electronic trading platformsfinancial services companies of the united states1913 establishments in new yorkcompanies listed on the pink sheetsotc markets group navigation menu personal tools not logged intalkcontributionscreate accountlog in namespaces article talk variants views read edit view history more search navigation main pagecontentsfeatured contentcurrent eventsrandom articledonate to wikipediawikipedia store interaction helpabout 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