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OTC Markets Group Inc. (OTCQX: OTCM), operator of the OTCQX®, OTCQB® and Pink® markets for 10,000 U.S. and global securities announced that Vermont state regulations recognize the OTCQX market, and Washington, Wyoming and Iowa securities regulators recognize the OTCQX and OTCQB markets, as securities manuals for the purposes of each state's "Blue Sky Manual Exemption."
"We are excited to see Vermont, Washington, Wyoming and Iowa lead the way in recognizing our premium trading markets for the purposes of Blue Sky Manual Exemption," said R. Cromwell Coulson, President and CEO of OTC Markets Group. "The OTCQX and OTCQB markets are built on the philosophy of using data-driven standards to provide investors with online access to current public information. We believe these initial state recognitions are an important first step in garnering support from additional states and ultimately achieving our goal of gaining Blue Sky recognition from all 50 states for our OTCQX and OTCQB markets."
State Blue Sky laws generally help investors make informed decisions by mandating that companies disclose accurate and current information when offering or marketing securities. Regulators and brokers across the country rely on disclosure-based manual exemptions from individual state Blue Sky laws. Thirty-eight U.S. states and jurisdictions maintain manual exemptions, which generally allow for secondary trading of qualifying companies as long as certain key information about the company is published in a nationally recognized securities manual or its electronic equivalent. Each state determines which manuals qualify under its rules.
OTC Markets Group has embarked on a campaign to educate state regulators about the easily accessible, free public online disclosure of current information offered by companies traded on the OTCQX and OTCQB markets. The Vermont Securities Regulations (Section 5-9) recognize the OTCQX Best Market, effective July 1, 2016, while Washington and Wyoming took a different approach, granting the exemption to OTCQX and OTCQB through no-action letters. Iowa securities regulators issued administrative orders recognizing each market.
"NASAA and individual state regulators have recognized that improving online access to current company information serves the goal of investor protection," said Dan Zinn, General Counsel of OTC Markets Group. "The updated manual exemptions in Vermont, Washington, Wyoming and Iowa support increased information availability and more efficient trading on the OTCQX and OTCQB markets. We appreciate their willingness to act quickly and we look forward to working with more states in the coming months."
OTC Markets Group continues to actively reach out to all other states that maintain a Blue Sky Manual Exemption and to engage NASAA and the remaining states to determine how best to qualify OTCQX and OTCQB traded securities based on their unique regulatory environment.
