Over-the-counter (finance)
Over-the-counter trading is the trading of financial instruments such as stocks directly between parties and not through an exchange. Compare with electronic trading or exchange trading.
In the US, over-the-counter trading is carried out on the OTCBB (OTC Bulletin Board). In June 1990, the OTCBB began operation, on a pilot basis, as part of important market structure reforms to provide transparency in the OTC equities market. The Penny Stock Reform Act of 1990 mandated the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to establish an electronic system that met the requirements of Section 17B of the Exchange Act. The system was designed to facilitate the widespread publication of quotation and last-sale information. Since December 1993, firms have been required to report trades in all domestic OTC equity securities through the Automated Confirmation Transaction ServiceSM(ACTSM) within 90 seconds of the transaction.
In April 1997, the SEC approved the operation of the OTCBB on a permanent basis with some modifications, and in May 1997, DPPs became eligible for quotation on the OTCBB. In April 1998, all foreign securities and ADRs that are fully registered with the SEC became eligible for the display of real-time quotes, last-sale prices, and volume information on the OTCBB.
On January 4, 1999, the SEC approved the OTCBB Eligibility Rule. Securities not quoted on the OTCBB as of that date will be required to report their current financial information to the SEC, banking, or insurance regulators in order to meet eligibility requirements. Non-reporting companies whose securities were already quoted on the OTCBB will be granted a grace period to comply with the new requirements. Those companies will be phased in beginning in July 1999 and by June 2000, current financial information about all domestic companies that are quoted on the OTCBB will be publicly available.
The OTCBB provides access to more than 3300 securities.
Source: http://www.otcbb.com/aboutOTCBB/overview.stm#abouthistory