The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has proposed to amend Rule 15c2-11, which governs the publication and submission of quotations by a broker-dealer in the over-the-counter (OTC) market. The proposed amendments would prohibit a broker-dealer from publishing quotes in a security not listed on a national securities exchange unless documents and information about the issuer are current and publicly available.

In addition, the proposed amendments would limit certain existing exceptions under Rule 15c2-11, including the piggyback exception and the unsolicited quotation exception, to circumstances in which documents and information about the issuer are current and publicly available. The proposed amendments also would limit the piggyback exception to circumstances in which, among other things, there are two-sided quotations that are published in an interdealer quotation system at specified prices.

The proposed amendments also would set forth new exceptions from the general requirements of Rule 15c2-11 under circumstances in which there is less concern regarding fraud and manipulation, including, for example, quotations for securities of well-capitalized issuers with actively traded securities. Similarly, the proposed amendments would provide an exception for quotations in which a qualified interdealer quotation system conducts a review of the issuer and makes known to others the quotation of a broker-dealer relying on the exception.

The proposed rule, including a complete description of the proposed changes to Rule 15c2-11, is available here.