In my most recent blog post, Capital Raising During Times of Uncertainty—Issuers Beware!, I discussed the issues facing small and micro-cap companies as they confront critical funding issues and the heightened need to secure growth capital. The companies that do all the right things and provide quality disclosure deserve a public market that provides a mechanism for investment funding to keep their businesses going. However, some may still fall victim to bad actors. We cautioned issuers to beware of “too good to be true” financings with terms that dump shares, dilute shareholder value and destroy companies. Continue reading “Investors Be Alert—“Penny Stocks” Can also Trade on Exchanges”
During the Great Recession, commercial real estate (CRE) lending practices were heavily scrutinized and considered to be a leading factor of economic downturn. As a result, bank concentrations in CRE are assumed to be a strong predictor of bank failures.
Over a decade later, rising bank CRE lending concentration levels accompanied by historically high CRE prices have many economists convinced that regulations need to be revisited so history doesn’t repeat itself. As they debate whether or not current CRE lending practices are an accurate prognosticator, recent Qaravan data tells a far more nuanced story. Continue reading “Are CRE Concentrations Still a Financial Crisis Prognosticator?”
In late December, an interagency body of regulators closed the comment period for a set of proposed changes to the ever-evolving CECL standard. Regulators have recently come back with their responses to industry comments in the form of the “Final Policy Statement for FASB ASC Topic 326” found here: https://www.fdic.gov/news/board/2020/2020-02-20-notational-fr.pdf Continue reading “Key Takeaways From Regulators’ Recent CECL Final Policy Statement”
With the most sweeping re-casting of credit risk management in decades looming on the horizon, regulators, bank executives and the markets are bracing for the potential disruptive ramifications of this new set of credit loss accounting standards. In response to calls for a more cautious rollout, regulators have agreed to an implementation extension for most community banks. Continue reading “CECL is Coming: Here’s How Bank Stakeholders Can Anticipate Its Impact While Making Their Voices Heard”
The banking industry is unique in the amount of regulatory scrutiny it is subject to, much of which is in the form of self-reporting. Since legislation was passed in 1975 in response to the failure of two federally chartered institutions (United States National Bank and Franklin National Bank), every national bank, state bank, federal savings bank, federal savings association, and credit union is mandated by law to report highly standardized and detailed information about its operations to a central authority, the Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council (FFIEC).
Advanced Data Analysis Helps Connect the Dots to Highlight the Nation’s Top Performing Community Banks
Continue reading “OTC Markets Group Top Performing Banks Report by Qaravan: 2Q 2019”
OTC Markets Group Garners Blue Sky Exemptions in 35 States
Since May 2016, we have fostered an active dialogue with constituents at the North American Securities Administrators Association (NASAA) and individual state regulators with the goal of providing investors, companies, brokers and other market participants with a defined regulatory structure that recognizes the transparent current disclosure provided by OTCQX and OTCQB companies. We appreciate the hard work and diligence of NASAA members as we work to achieve important exemptions for our OTCQX and OTCQB markets under state Blue Sky laws governing secondary trading. Continue reading “Blue Sky Recognition Continues to Gain Traction”
The small-cap equity market, which operates across listed and OTC venues, plays a vital role in the U.S. capital markets and economy. Companies gain access to capital and investors are able to take a stake in venture stage firms. Even though small-cap equities trade both over-the-counter and on the national exchanges, there is a perception that an exchange listing provides an air of legitimacy on a company. However, the truth is that investors and market professionals benefit from added due diligence when assessing and trading all small-cap stocks.
Continue reading “OTC Markets Group Introduces its Small Cap Listed Compliance Product”
Stock Promotion
Late last year, OTC Markets Group published a new Stock Promotion policy, along with Best Practices for public companies. These policies outline OTC Markets efforts to establish best standard practices, improve market transparency and better address the problem of fraudulent stock promotion. Continue reading “New Promotion Risk Flag Among the Latest Data Points to Increase Transparency and Investor Protection”
