SEC Amends Guidance on Quotations for Over-the-Counter Securities
September 17, 2020
The SEC has issued a final
rule, Publication or Submission of Quotations Without
Specified Information, which amends regulations in Rule 15c2-11 of the
Securities Exchange Act of 1934 with respect to the “publication of quotations for
[over-the-counter (OTC)] securities in a quotation medium other than a national
securities exchange.” The amendments in the final rule “are designed to modernize
the Rule, promote investor protection, and curb incidents of fraud and manipulation
by, among other things: requiring information about issuers to be current and
publicly available for broker-dealers to quote their securities in the OTC market;
narrowing reliance on certain exceptions from the Rule’s requirements, including the
piggyback exception; adding new exceptions for the quotations of securities that may
be less susceptible to fraud and manipulation; removing obsolete provisions; adding
new definitions; and making technical amendments.”
For more information, see the press
release and statements by SEC Chairman Jay
Clayton, Commissioners Elad L. Roisman and Hester M. Peirce on the SEC’s Web site