STAY ALERT
otcbb.com
Trade and Quote Halt Authority in OTCBB Securities Effective
on June 26, 2000
Head Trader Alert #2000-42
On May 22, 2000, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) approved a
rule that gives Nasdaq© authority to impose trading and quotation halts in
securities quoted on the OTC Bulletin Board© (OTCBB). The rule goes into
effect on June 26, 2000. Under the rule, Nasdaq may halt trading in OTCBB
issues in the following three instances:
1.when the OTCBB security is dually listed on a foreign market or
registered with a foreign regulatory authority and a foreign market or
regulatory authority halts trading in the security for regulatory reasons;
2.when the OTCBB security is a derivative or component of a Nasdaq-listed
or an exchange-listed security, and Nasdaq or the exchange halts trading
in the underlying security; and
3.when the OTCBB issuer does not provide, in a timely manner, the
National Association of Securities Dealers, Inc. (NASD©) with information
required by SEC Rule 10b-17.
For all of the trade and quote halts described above, Nasdaq will notify market
participants, and the public, of halts through the OTCBB website at
www.otcbb.com and through Level 1 ServiceSM administrative messages, as
described in Vendor Alert 2000-7. Beginning on Monday, June 26, 2000,
market participants will be able to receive automated notification of OTCBB trade
halts and resumptions of trading via e-mail from the OTCBB website. To
subscribe to trade halt notifications, from the homepage simply click on E-mail
and create an e-mail profile. Then check the "Trade Halts" box under
"Subscriptions". If you already have an e-mail profile, then you only need to
update your Subscription list.
Trading and quotations in the security may resume when Nasdaq has decided,
after close review, that there is no further need for the halt, or when five trading
days have passed from the initial halt date (whichever occurs first). (Notification
of the lifting of the halt also will be made public through the OTCBB website and
Level 1 administrative messages.) If a stock is halted for five days and then
lifted, at the time the halt is lifted, Market Makers will be required to fulfill their
obligations under SEC Rule 15c2-11 prior to initiating a priced or unpriced
quotation in the security.
If you have any questions regarding this rule change, please direct them to the
following contacts:
Operational issues: Sheila Dagucon, Vice President, Nasdaq Market
Watch Department, (301) 590-6435;
General questions about OTCBB : Liz Heese, Market Specialist, Nasdaq
Trading and Market Services, (202) 728-8191;
Issues related to Rule 10b-17 Halts: Dorothy Kennedy, Director Nasdaq
Market Operations, (203) 385-6243;
Legal issues: John Malitzis, Assistant General Counsel, Nasdaq office of
General Counsel, at (202) 728-8245.
Please see NASD Notice To Members 00-41 for additional information on
OTCBB trade halts. |
