OTCBB - OTC Bulletin Board

09/17/2021 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 09/17/2021 02:22

Upcoming Retirement of the OTC Bulletin Board (OTCBB)

As announced in Regulatory Notice 21-28, FINRA is deleting the Rule 6500 Series and other rules related to the OTC Bulletin Board (OTCBB) - a FINRA-operated inter-dealer quotation system - and is planning to cease its operation. The OTCBB closure will not occur until the steps specified in Regulatory Notice 21-28 have been completed. Although the closure date has not yet been finalized and will not occur prior to October 1, 2021 (consistent with the Regulatory Notice), it may occur as soon as the fourth quarter of 2021 and members and vendors should be taking steps to prepare for its closure.

FINRA Encourages Members and Vendors to Start Reviewing OTCBB-Related Connections Immediately

When the OTCBB ceases operation, FINRA will discontinue the Bulletin Board Dissemination Service (BBDS) data feed. Clients who currently subscribe to this feed should plan to disconnect the feed or contact their extranet providers to ensure they are disconnected and that they no longer incur connectivity fees for the consumption of this feed.

Extranet clients who connect to FINRA for the purpose of distributing the BBDS feed should plan to discontinue their processing of this feed.

Clients who employ QIX or Nasdaq Workstation connections to send OTCBB quotes to FINRA should contact Nasdaq Subscriber Services or call (212) 231-5180 to ensure these connections are eliminated for the use of sending OTCBB quotes.

Extranet clients who connect their clients to FINRA for the purpose of sending OTCBB quotes to FINRA via QIX should plan to discontinue their connections.

In anticipation of this change FINRA has amended the TDDS, ORF TRAQS User Guide and ORF Web API specifications.

FINRA will issue periodic reminders regarding the OTCBB retirement and will announce the actual shutdown date in a future notice, which will not occur prior to October 1, 2021.

Questions can be forwarded to FINRA Product Management at (866) 899-2107.