OTCQX and OTCQB Blue Sky Recognition Expands to North Carolina

NEW YORK, July 18, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) --  (OTCQX: OTCM), operator of regulated financial markets for 12,000 U.S. and global securities, today announced North Carolina recognizes the OTCQX^® Best Market and OTCQB^® Venture Market as securities manuals for the purposes of its “Blue Sky Manual Exemption” for secondary trading.

North Carolina marks the 40^th U.S. jurisdiction to recognize our markets. Each of these jurisdictions have tailored their approach to granting this exemption from no-action letters to rule changes and administrative orders. This latest recognition marks another important milestone in OTC Markets Group’s campaign to educate state regulators about the easily accessible, free public online disclosure of current information offered by companies traded on the OTCQX and OTCQB markets.

“We are thrilled by the continued progress we’ve made in our campaign to help state regulators recognize our premium trading markets for purposes of the Blue Sky Manual Exemption,” said Matt Fuchs, Executive Vice President of Market Data at OTC Markets Group. “This important recognition from North Carolina puts us one step closer towards our goal of gaining a Blue Sky exemption in all 54 U.S. jurisdictions.”

State Blue Sky laws generally help investors make informed decisions by mandating that companies disclose accurate and current information when offering or marketing securities.  Regulators and brokers across the country rely on disclosure-based manual exemptions from individual state Blue Sky laws. 44 U.S. states and jurisdictions maintain manual exemptions, which generally allow for secondary trading of qualifying companies as long as certain key information about the company is published in a nationally recognized securities manual or its electronic equivalent. Each state determines which manuals qualify under its rules.

OTC Markets Group continues to actively work with the remaining states and jurisdictions to inform them of the easily accessible current disclosure available on OTCQX and OTCQB securities at . The Company remains committed to working with these states to determine how best to qualify OTCQX- and OTCQB-traded securities based on their unique regulatory environment.

About OTC Markets Group Inc.

(OTCQX: OTCM) operates regulated markets for trading 12,000 U.S. and international securities. Our data-driven disclosure standards form the foundation of our three public markets: OTCQX^® Best Market, OTCQB^® Venture Market and Pink^® Open Market.

Our OTC Link^® Alternative Trading Systems (ATSs) provide critical market infrastructure that broker-dealers rely on to facilitate trading. Our innovative model offers companies more efficient access to the U.S. financial markets.

OTC Link ATS, OTC Link ECN and OTC Link NQB are each an SEC regulated ATS, operated by OTC Link LLC, a FINRA and SEC registered broker-dealer, member SIPC.

To learn more about how we create better informed and more efficient markets, visit .