More foreign companies gravitate to Pink Sheets

One unexpected beneficiary of Sarbanes-Oxley has been the Pink Sheets, the listing service run by Pink OTC Markets. We're used to thinking of the service as a place for less-than-reputable micro companies that you'd want to avoid like offers to buy the Brooklyn Bridge. But in June 2007, the SEC allowed foreign companies to shift to a new U.S. trading venue if less than 5 percent of their global volume occurred in the U.S., according to Barron's. That ignited a flood of brand-name foreign companies to the Pink Sheets, boosting the service's prestige to all-time highs. A foreign company on the Pink Sheets maintains certain benefits, such a local currency for deals and a way to fund stock compensation plans for U.S. employees. At the same time, they escape the costs of Sarbox. Going Pink gives the best of both worlds.  

For more:
- here's the Barron's article

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