Moving Up After Going Public: From Otcbb/otcqb To Otcqx

By Author: Michael Williams
Total Articles: 6
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For many companies going public that start on the OTCBB/OTCQB, their goal is to move up to a higher market. One higher market is the OTCQX.

Getting a Ticker Symbol on the OTCQX after going public preliminarily requires the same three things as the OTCBB/OTCQB:

One: You have to have free trading stock.

Two: You have to become an SEC reporting company, meaning a company that is required to file reports under the 1934 Act.

Three: You have to have the Financial Institution Regulatory Authority, called FINRA, issue you a Ticker Symbol. The SEC does not issue ticker symbols. We discussed this in prior blog posts.

The OTCQX has the following listing standards in addition to the OTCBB and OTCQB:

Ongoing operations (no shells, blank check or special purpose acquisition companies);
A minimum bid price of $0.10 (for preceding 90 business days);
The company may not be subject to any bankruptcy or reorganization proceedings;
The company must be duly organized, validly existing and in good standing under the laws of each jurisdiction in which the company is organized;
At ...
... least 50 beneficial shareholders, each owning at least 100 shares of the Company's common stock;
Ongoing quarterly and audited annual financial reports posted on OTCQX.com, a premier website for qualifying companies (SEC Registered issuers can use EDGAR); and
Inclusion in the Standard & Poor's Corporation Records or Mergent Manuals (Moody's Manuals), which satisfies the Blue Sky requirements for secondary transactions in many states, together with a list of any other states in which the security is Blue Sky compliant and eligible to be sold by brokers in those states;
DAD Letter of Introduction upon application process completion and quarterly and annually thereafter to OTC Markets Group Inc. confirming that the issuer has made adequate current information publicly available and meets the tier inclusion requirements.

Remember, you can Go Public Direct without a Reverse IPO reverse merger with public shell and save your company money and heartache. So if you are considering going public, get advice from an experienced SEC lawyer who knows the ins and outs of the entire process and can take a private company public directly without a Reverse IPO reverse merger with public shell.

This article, which does not constitute legal advice, was written for information purposes only by Michael T. Williams, Esq., an experienced SEC attorney of the Williams Securities Law Firm, P.A., Tampa FL, whose practice is primarily focused on taking companies public.