Trans-Atlantic Information Flow: Making Sure North American Investors Don't See Blank Screens

OTC Markets Group Inc. (OTCQX: OTCM) and PR Newswire welcomed investor relations professionals from some of Europe’s largest corporations to the Westminster Hotel in central Paris on 21st January to take part in a breakfast forum aimed at educating European global companies about the OTCQX® and OTCQB® marketplaces in the US and providing guidance and best practices on cost-effectively reaching US investors.

More than 700 European-headquartered global companies are cross-traded in the US on off-exchange marketplaces, yet few of them garner the US investor attention or trading volumes they seek. Compelling research - included within a white paper accompanying this event - demonstrates how issuers who actively engage with US audiences can realise average daily trading volumes 12 times higher than those of companies whose communication strategy remains focused on the home market.

“Trans-Atlantic Information Flow” included a panel discussion with Martine Hue, Investor Relations Director at Publicis Groupe S.A., which trades on OTCQX; PR Newswire Investor Relations Consultant Mark Hynes; and Sami Toutounji, Partner of Shearman & Sterling, an international law firm.

Key findings from the discussion included:

• Transparency guidelines in European markets are now broadly similar to those in North America: if an announcement is made to satisfy European regulations, it’s safe to assume that the US audience needs to hear about it too.
• Investor communication methods have evolved. Gone are the days of the standalone, plain text press release: today’s IRO must consider rich content such as images and video to help convey a company’s equity story to a diverse and geographically disparate audience.
• Social media is a valuable tool, but must be subjected to the same rigorous approach as more traditional channels.
• If North American investors do not see a consistent flow of information from a European issuer, it sends a poor message about that company’s commitment to transparency.

“We’re pleased with the turnout for our first joint PR Newswire US investor communications event in Paris,” said Jason Paltrowitz, Managing Director and Global Head of Business Development at OTC Markets Group. “More European companies are recognizing the value of trading on a premium US market like OTCQX and broadly distributing their news and disclosure in English to US investors. #NoBlankScreens is a call to action to all global, publicly-traded companies to embrace the free flow of information to investors, wherever they reside.”

“Today’s event was a great opportunity for us to assist OTC Markets Group in helping European issuers to make the most of their off-exchange listing,” said Lisa Ashworth, President, EMEA & India, PR Newswire. “The message we hear from companies like Publicis tallies with our experience that a little extra consideration of the specifics of the US audience, coupled with the addition of rich media content, can have a real impact on the success of a US investor relations campaign.”

About OTC Markets Group Inc.
OTC Markets Group Inc. (OTCQX: OTCM) operates Open, Transparent and Connected financial marketplaces for 10,000 US and global securities. Through our OTC Link® ATS, we directly link a diverse network of broker-dealers that provide liquidity and execution services for a wide spectrum of securities. We organise these securities into marketplaces to better inform investors of opportunities and risks – OTCQX®, The Best Marketplace; OTCQB®, The Venture Marketplace; and OTC Pink®, The Open Marketplace. Our data-driven platform enables investors to easily trade through the broker of their choice at the best possible price and empowers a broad range of companies to improve the quality and availability of information for their investors. To learn more about how we create better informed and more efficient financial marketplaces, visit www.otcmarkets.com.
OTC Link ATS is operated by OTC Link LLC, member FINRA/SIPC and SEC regulated ATS.
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About PR Newswire
PR Newswire (www.prnewswire.co.uk) is the leading global provider of PR and corporate communications tools that enable clients to distribute news and rich content across traditional, digital and social media channels in real time with full actionable reporting and monitoring.
Producing, optimising and targeting news and content across the world’s largest multichannel distribution network and offering the most accurate and frequently updated opted in journalist databases for over 60 years PR Newswire has a truly global reach serving clients across EMEA, India, the Americas and Asia-Pacific. PR Newswire is part of UBM plc

Media Contacts:
Saskia Sidenfaden, OTC Markets Group Inc., +1 (212) 896-4428, [email protected]
Imogen Powell-Shaw, PR Newswire, +44 (0)20 7454 5335, [email protected]