More Recognition Of OTC Markets’ Fight Against Pump & Dumps
More Recognition Of OTC Markets’ Fight Against Pump & Dumps
A new article in S&P Global Market Intelligence by Declan Harty discusses “How OTC Markets fights stock fraud enabled by ‘fake news’.”
The article highlights how technology has made it easier for fraudsters to implement “pump and dumps” of OTC stock, listed securities, crypto currencies, and more.
“Technology certainly transformed the stock promotion business,” said John Reed Stark, a cybersecurity consultant who founded and led the SEC’s Office of Internet Enforcement from 1998 to 2009, in an interview. “You can instantaneously create a 1980s boiler room in your basement without any of the start-up costs.”
Many credit OTC Markets Group CEO, Cromwell Coulson, with revolutionizing over-the-counter trading by increasing the quality and transparency of over-the-counter securities.
In March, OTC Markets Group has introduced Stock Promotion & Shell Risk Flags to enable investors to easily identify securities that are the subject of current promotional activity or might be a ‘shell company.’
The new flags followed 2017 initiatives to clarify the responsibility of reputable public companies and publish a monthly list of companies that were added to the Caveat Emptor designation or downgraded in OTC tiers.
“They’ve really come a long, long way,” said Yolanda Holtzee, who has been a whistleblower in seven successful cases with the SEC, in an interview. “[OTC Markets] has done a really good job of making promoted issuers transparent.”
Read the entire article HERE.