Chairman Garrett, Ranking Member Maloney and members of the Capital Markets and Government Sponsored Enterprises subcommittee, my name is R. Cromwell Coulson, president, CEO and director of OTC Markets Group Inc., operator of the OTCQX®, OTCQB® and OTC Pink® marketplaces where 10,000 U.S. and global securities trade.1 I appreciate the opportunity to testify before the subcommittee today on the topic of “reducing barriers to capital formation.” As an operator of public marketplaces for small companies and a publicly traded small company in our own right, I hope I can provide the committee with greater insight into barriers to capital formation that should be removed.
Our self-interest in changes to regulation is very clear. We want more openness so our public markets are more inclusive, we want better transparency so our public markets are better informed, and we want more connectivity so our public markets are more efficient. Finally, we want to remove unneeded regulatory burdens in order to reduce the cost and complexity imposed on smaller public companies.