Thursday, March 14, 2013
Delisting Increases
The Jumpstart Our Business Startup (JOBS) Act is allowing companies to deregister from stock markets.
Previously, a company with over 500 shareholders was required to be
listed, which also meant filing financial reports with the SEC. The JOBS
Act allows companies with as many as 2,000 shareholders to delist, and
allows the company to avoid SEC reporting requirements. The Coastal
Banking Company recently delisted its securities, saving $150,000 to
$200,000 per year. And Harleysville Savings Financial saved 6 cents per
share by delisting. While going dark used to have negative connotations,
OTC Markets is
trying to make unregistered securities more respectable. OTC Markets
has five tiers of stocks based on the information made available by the
company. OTC Markets combines the company's financial results with the
stock price and trading information in an effort to increase
transparency.