OTC Markets Group Gets Blue Sky Recognition for Two of its Venues in 4 States

New York-headquartered OTC Markets Group Inc., an Alternative Trading System (ATS) operator, today announced that two of its operated venues including OTCQX and OTCQB have received state blue sky recognition, as per an official announcement.

Each U.S. state determines what qualifies under their respective Blue Sky Manual Exemption rules, and OTC Markets Group revealed that Vermont state regulators had recognized its OTCQX market, and Washington, Iowa, and Wyoming regulators recognized both OTCQX and OTCQB markets for the purpose of each state's respective manuals.

Goal for every state

The move helps set a basis for future states to recognize OTC Markets Group’s venues, while opening up markets for secondary trading for qualifying companies, among other potential benefits as investors can benefit from related disclosures made that can help them make better-informed decisions when investing.

"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, commenting in an official statement.

Mr. Coulson added: "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."

Commenting in a corporate statement, OTC Markets Group General Counsel, Dan Zinn, added: "NASAA and individual state regulators have recognized that improving online access to current company information serves the goal of investor protection."

Mr. Zinn said: "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."

The news follows after the company announced a synergy with Thomson Reuters to help price its Pink securities after OTC Markets Group had filed a petition with the SEC to expand online capital raising to firms that have fully-reporting firms.