Update: On August 6, 2021, FINRA issued Regulatory Notice 21-28 to announce Rule 6439 (except paragraph (d)(1)(B)) will become effective October 1, 2021. The permanent closure of the OTCBB and deletion of the OTCBB-related rules will be announced in a separate communication, but it will not occur before the October 1, 2021 effective date.

On June 21, 2021, the SEC designated the FINRA OTC Reporting Facility, along with any FINRA-member interdealer quotation system (IDQS) meeting certain requirements, as qualifying electronic quotation systems for purposes of the penny stock rules under the Exchange Act.

FINRA requested the designation in conjunction with recently approved rule changes to eliminate the OTC Bulletin Board (OTCBB), which saw significant decline in use and now does not display or widely disseminate quotation information on any OTC equity securities. Instead, quotation activity in OTC equity securities is occurring on alternative, member-operated IDQSs. FINRA's rule changes adopted new Rule 6439 to provide requirements tailored to these IDQSs and ensure they have minimum standards. FINRA will then also delete the Rule 6500 Series governing the OTCBB and cease its operation.

The SEC's designation will become effective on the effective date of FINRA Rule 6439, which FINRA will announce in a future regulatory notice.

For more information on FINRA Rule 6439, see Legal Update, FINRA Proposes to Adopt New Requirements for Member Inter-Dealer Quotation Systems and Eliminate the OTC Bulletin Board. For more information on OTC markets, see Practice Note, Selecting a US Securities Exchange: Over-the-counter (OTC) Markets.