SEC Approves BX Venture Market
The SEC has recently approved the NASDAQ OMX Group, Inc.’s application to form the BX Venture Market (“BX Market”) as an alternative quotation medium to the OTCBB and OTC Markets, Inc. (including PinkSheets, OTCQB and OTCQX). The new BX Market will provide companies that do not otherwise qualify for an exchange listing, an opportunity to list their shares. The BX Market will compete with the OTCBB and the OTC Markets OTCQB and OTCQX (interestingly and as an aside, NASDAQ sold the OTCBB last year to a private buyer). The SEC has issued an in-depth order approving the application.
The OTCBB, OTCQB and OTCQX Alternative
The BX Market is marketing itself as a more transparent, better regulated, listing alternative to both the OTCBB and OTCQB and OTCQX. Presumably this means that companies trading on the BX Market would appear to have greater credibility than those on the OTCBB or OTCQB/QX. The BX Market will be run through joint ventures with NASDAQ
Public Company Compliance – Selecting An Auditor
The Sarbanes Oxley Act of 2002 (SOX) created the PCAOB, which is the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board. All public company auditors must be PCAOB licensed and qualified. Prior to the enactment of SOX, the profession was self regulated and any CPA could audit a public company. On its website, the PCAOB describes itself as “[T]he PCAOB is a nonprofit corporation established by Congress to oversee the audits of public companies in order to protect investors and the public interest by promoting informative, accurate, and independent audit reports. The PCAOB also oversees the audits of broker-dealers, including compliance reports filed pursuant to federal securities laws, to promote investor protection.”
Not All PCAOB Auditors are Created Equal
Licensing and membership with the PCAOB has stringent requirements. In fact, shortly after the enactment of SOX the number of accounting firms that provide public company services declined dramatically. Being held to a higher standard isn’t for everyone. However, as time has passed, even
