OTC Markets 2021 Annual Data Review Highlights A Record 60% $ Volume Increase

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The 2021 Market Data Annual Review for OTC Markets Group Inc. OTCM is officially out.

The OTC Market has been a bridge between investors and early-stage startups, foreign companies and companies operating in unique industries. The OTCQX Best Market, which is coming up on its 15th-year anniversary, is home to Switzerland’s Roche Holdings AG RHHBY and cryptocurrency-driven GrayScale Bitcoin Trust GBTC. The OTCQB Venture Market hosts exciting startups like BevCanna Enterprises Inc. BVNNF, who were named one of the top 101 food and beverage startups and companies in Canada. 

OTC Markets has continuously improved its regulatory standards, which may be one reason it's been able to sustain and grow investor interest on a global scale. The 2021 Market Data Annual Review outlines this story and highlights the metrics behind the OTCQX Best Market, OTCQB Venture Market and Pink Open Market. 

In addition to the annual review, OTC Markets’ recently announced that it will report its financial results for the fourth quarter and fiscal year ended December 31, 2021 aftermarket on Wednesday, March 9, 2022. 

OTC Securities: An Overview

The OTC Markets in 2021 reported: 

• An annual dollar volume of $713.85 billion, representing 60.4% annual growth. The average daily dollar volume was $2.83 billion. 
• An annual share volume of 9.16 trillion shares, representing 218.2% annual growth. The average daily share volume was 36.36 billion. 
• An annual number of trades equaling 154.61 million and representing 93.8% annual growth. The average daily trade volume was 613,540. 

Of the 12,011 securities on these three markets: 

• OTCQX had an annual dollar volume of $230.76 billion, representing 32.3% of total volume. It had 623 constituents. 
• OTCQB had an annual dollar volume of $35.85 billion, representing 5% of total volume. It had 1,197 constituents. 
• Pink had an annual dollar volume of $447.23 billion, representing 62.7% of total volume. It had 10,191 constituents.  

The types of securities on the OTC Markets included: 

• 7,211 foreign ordinary shares
• 1,817 American Depository Receipts (ADR) 
• 1,602 securities reporting to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) 
• 359 banks and thrifts 

The international securities on the OTC Markets included: 

• 2,523 securities from Europe, which had $186.61 billion in annual dollar volume 
• 2,507 securities from Canada, which had $66.69 billion in annual dollar volume
• 1,105 securities from Japan, which had $49.94 billion in annual dollar volume
• 948 securities from Hong Kong, which had $108.61 billion in annual dollar volume
• 955 securities from the United Kingdom, which had $34.87 billion in annual dollar volume
• 843 securities from Australia, which had $11.79 billion in annual dollar volume
• A total of 9,028 securities, which had a total annual dollar volume of $447.85 billion 

New Additions

On Sept. 28, amended SEC Rule 15c2-11 became effective, setting minimum public company disclosure standards for broker-dealer quotations. These changes have created more transparency for investors while also significantly increasing the number of quoted global securities.

In the OTC Markets: 

• 1,142 companies subscribed to provide public disclosure in 2021. 
• 1,304 Grey Market securities gained Proprietary Quote Eligible (PQE) status and shifted to the Pink Market. 
• 2,165 Pink No Information securities shifted to the Expert Market. 
• 10,144 securities met PQE status at year-end, representing 12.7% growth. 

Of the securities that gained PQE status: 

• 3,660 gained it in 2021. 
• 1,304 were from the Grey Market. 
• 2,092 were from the Pink Market. 
• 3,570 were foreign (ADR or ordinary shares)
• The securities had a median price of $10.20 and a median market capitalization of $1.64 billion. 

In comparison, of those that lost PQE status: 

• 2,075 gained it in 2021. 
• 1,666 were from Pink No Information.
• 489 were foreign securities. 
• The securities had a median price of $0.017 and a median market capitalization of $487,000. 

Since 2020, OTC Markets Group has added 55 U.S. distributors and 30 international distributors of real-time quotes, expanding the reach of their market data to a wider audience of institutional and retail investors across the U.S., Europe, Asia, and Canada.

The number of new distributors by region since 2020: 

• Asia: 5
• Europe: 20
• Canada: 4
• Other: 1 

A Suite of Compliance Solutions

OTC Markets Group also launched a suite of compliance solutions that are meant to allow investors to evaluate and automate risk processes.

For example, these securities can be grouped into the following categories along with their relative metrics: 

• 5,931 are non-penny stocks. They have a dollar volume of $619.44 billion, which comprises 86.8% of the market’s total. 
• 4,909 are transfer agent verified. They have a dollar volume of $283.3 billion, which comprises 39.7% of the market’s total. 
• 523 are caveat emptor. They have a dollar volume of $285.98 million, which comprises 0.04% of the market’s total. 
• 243 are promoted. They have a dollar volume of $164.51 million, which comprises 0.02% of the market’s total. 
• 540 are shell. They have a dollar volume of $2.74 billion, which comprises 0.4% of the market’s total. 
• 1,018 are shell risk. They have a dollar volume of $8.08 billion, which comprises 1.1% of the market’s total. 
• 1,199 are hot sector. They have a dollar volume of $228.24 billion, which comprises 32% of the market’s total. 
• 270 are crypto. They have a dollar volume of $175.68 billion, which comprises 24.6% of the market’s total. 
• 745 are cannabis. They have a dollar volume of $42.22 billion, which comprises 5.9% of the market’s total. 
• 154 are COVID-19. They have a dollar volume of $10.23 billion, which comprises 1.4% of the market’s total. 

OTC Markets Group also offers a Blue Sky Data Product, a premium offering designed to provide the most efficient, comprehensive view of Blue Sky Secondary Trading Compliance Data for more than 16,000 OTC equity securities and 80,000 OTC corporate fixed-income securities.

The Blue Sky exemptions by market and the average number of states: 

• OTCQX: 42
• OTCQB: 34
• Pink Current: 16
• Pink Limited: 12

Click here for more information. 

This post contains sponsored advertising content. This content is for informational purposes only and is not intended to be investing advice.