Episode 8 - History of OTC Markets and Relationship to MicroCap Stocks with Jason Paltrowitz, OTC Markets Group

For this episode of the Planet MicroCap Podcast, I wanted to learn more about the relationship and long history between MicroCap stocks and OTC Markets. For clarification, “OTC”, stands for “Over-the-Counter”, which means, as Investopedia defines it as, “a security traded in some context other than on a formal exchange such as the NYSE, TSX, AMEX, etc…” Investopedia breaks it down even further, when it states, “the reason for which a stock is traded over-the-counter is usually because a company is small, making it unable to meet exchange listing requirements.” That sounds a lot like, MicroCap Stocks, right?

However, because of advances in new technology and growing interest in MicroCap stocks, I wanted to find out if the relationship has gotten more complex over the years. To help me with this task, I spoke with Jason Paltrowitz, Executive Vice President of Corporate Services at OTC Markets Group, Inc., who own and operate the Over-the-counter financial marketplaces, OTCQX, OTCQB, and OTC Pink. He is responsible for all international and domestic corporate services. 

The Planet MicroCap Podcast is brought to you by SNN Incorporated, publishers of StockNewsNow.com, The Official MicroCap News Source, and the MicroCap Review Magazine, the leading magazine in the MicroCap market - check out the latest issue here: MicroCap Review Summer/Fall 2015

In this episode, Mr. Paltrowitz discuss the following topics: 

• History of the Over-the-Counter stock markets
• How the OTC Markets came to be
• Description of the OTCQX, OTCQB and OTC Pink markets: what are the differences, qualifications for trading on each, etc...
• How has the OTC Markets globalized the stock market? 
• Discusses ADR's, "American Depository Receipt"'s
• How difficult is it for companies to list on multiple exchanges including OTC Markets in the US
• How does market making work together with OTC Markets?
• Why are a big percentage of MicroCap stocks listed on one of the OTC Markets' exchanges?
• Comments on Liquidity
• How does OTC Markets attract new listing companies? And, his view on "Uplisting"
• Mr. Paltrowitz' background
• You can follow the OTC Markets Group on Twitter @OTCMarkets

You can follow the Planet MicroCap Podcast on Twitter @BobbyKKraft, and you can also listen to this interview on StockNewsNow.com