In their January 2017 newsletter, OTC Markets Group outlined their legislative and regulatory proposals for 2017. 

OTC Markets’ regulatory agenda is focused on facilitating small company growth in the public markets in three ways: 

1. Make being public less painful:  Streamlining regulation to lower costs and save management time and resources

2. Facilitate information driven markets:  Encouraging high quality disclosure that better aligns with free market principles

3. Promote online capital raising for smaller companies

2017 Initiatives include:

Online Capital Raising for SEC Reporting Companies: Continue to build momentum behind our SEC Petition for Rulemaking to enable SEC Reporting companies to raise capital under Regulation A+ and Crowdfunding.

Revive the Fed OTC Margin List: Make margin-eligible qualified non-penny stocks that are actively traded on “established public markets,” including the OTCQX and OTCQB markets.

IRS/Treasury Reform: Accept “established public markets,” including OTCQX and OTCQB, as qualified secondary markets for Employee Stock Ownership Plans, so these companies can more easily offer this benefit.

Update Reg SHO to Support Bona Fide Market Making Liquidity in Small Companies:  Encourage liquidity and reduce volatility by providing a longer delivery period for bona fide market makers to cover short sales within a limited dollar range (between $100k to 500k).

Learn more in the OTC Markets’ January 2017 Newsletter HERE.