| Pink Sheets LLC is a provider of electronic interdealer quotation, trading and information systems, vastly improving the transparency, efficiency and competition of OTC markets.
In 1999, Pink Sheets introduced their Electronic Quotation System, which allowed for market makers to publish real-time firm quotes in OTC securities. In 2001, the company introduced Pink Link, an electronic order delivery and execution system for broker dealers trading in OTC securities. With a fill on 90% of interdealer orders and an average execution response time of 14 seconds, Pink Link allows market makers to electronically trade not only billions of shares in Pink Sheets quoted securities but over 30% of the daily trading in OTCBB quoted securities.
Today Pink Sheets is a leading edge electronic interdealer quotation and trading system on which over $8 billion of securities were traded this January alone. The largest financial firms are now among the firms that directly make markets using the system. There are almost 200 market makers trading the 4,800 OTC equity securities exclusively quoted in the Pink Sheets. Trading liquidity is increased by the average of 7 competing market makers per stock and real-time quote distribution to major online brokers and market data vendors. Widespread participation by broker-dealers, along with electronic access to the market, now allows investors to easily and efficiently buy and sell over-the-counter securities that are traded on the Pink Sheets system.
Pink Sheets is now working to improve the ability of quality OTC issuers to distinguish themselves and easily disseminate their information to investors with the new OTCQX service. Designed to clearly differentiate operating companies with audited financials that can meet certain minimum requirements, OTCQX premium tiers will provide issuers with a mechanism to publish quarterly and annual audited financial reports, management certifications, and interim event disclosure. The centralization of issuer-certified disclosure, together with listing standards for inclusion in the tiers, will substantially improve the OTC market, promote continued disclosure in the absence of SEC reporting, and highlight the best issuers in the OTC market to the investment community.
As a non-exclusive securities information processor, Pink Sheets is neither a Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Registered Stock Exchange nor a NASD Broker-Dealer. Investors must contact a NASD Broker-Dealer to trade in a security quoted on the Pink Sheets. Pink Sheets LLC is a privately owned company headquartered in New York City.
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