TheCorporateCounsel.net

September 9, 2021

Why Pink? The Legacy of the Pink Sheets

The present day electronic platform for over-the-counter stock quotations operated by OTC Link had its origins back in the early 1900s, when the National Quotation Bureau printed a weekly inter-dealer quotation service on pink paper. This paper publication continued through the years until the late 1990s, when an electronic quotation service was launched. I can still remember looking at the actual pink sheets, because the SEC subscribed to the service back in the day. It is hard to believe in today’s environment, where traders seek to exploit information imbalances lasting milliseconds, that there was actually a time when broker-dealers would wait a week for updated bid and ask quotes on over-the-counter securities!

– Dave Lynn