Sponsoring Market Makers And Going Public

The last step in going public transactions is most often obtaining a stock trading or ticker symbol from the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (“FINRA”). For a company to obtain a ticker, a market maker must submit a Form 211 on the issuer’s behalf to the Finance Industry Regulatory Authority (“FINRA”). This last step is required of all companies including those filing Form S-1 registration statements with the SEC.

Only a Market Maker can submit a Form 211 to obtain a

Sponsoring Market Makers In Going Public Transactions

One step in going public transactions is obtaining a stock trading or ticker symbol from theFinancial Industry Regulatory Authority (“FINRA”). For a company to obtain a ticker, a sponsoring market maker must submit an application on Form 211 on the issuer’s behalf to the FINRA.

Sponsoring markets makers have become one of the  most important players in the going public process because they are the only ones who can apply for a ticker symbol.

Market Maker Registration

Going Public on the OTCMarkets Pink Sheets

Many private companies that go public are opting for the listing on the OTCMarket’s Pink Sheets due to the increased costs and more stringent regulations associated with Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) reporting.

Rule 15c2-11 (“SEC Rule 15c2-11”) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (the “Exchange Act”) can be used by a private company seeking to go public without an SEC registration statement by a sponsoring market maker submitting a Form 211 with the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (“FINRA”).

This enables the company to be quoted on

Pink Sheets Uplisting

The OTCMarkets Group operates an electronic inter-dealer quotation system called OTC Link that broker-dealers use to trade securities not listed on a national securities-related exchange.  OTCMarkets rank issuers in tiers; each issuer’s rank depends upon the amount of disclosure provided. Issuers using SEC Rule 15c2-11 qualify for the “OTC Pink Current Information” tier.

Pink Current Information Tier

The Pink Current Information tier is available to issuers who do not file reports with the SEC, but