US Pink Sheet Shares

badge57

I hold shares in a US company called Solarwindow who were re-classified (by the SEC) to trade on the Over The Counter (OTC) market, as ‘Pinks’. I believe this is a bit like moving from the Footsie 250 to AIM with different accounting standards? As a result, Hargreaves Lansdown say they are unable to deal Pinks so I can’t sell them and they are stuck in limbo in my account. Does anyone know a broker who would accept a transfer of these shares from HL, so I can set up a trading account? I’ve approached several firms but no luck so far. Closest I got was with Interactive Brokers who did deal these shares, but I needed £5m in my account first 😂. Any advice/suggestions would be very welcome.

maxsteam

Charles Schwab deal in some OTC products. I can't check this particular company without either opening an account or messaging them. I can't help but feel that HL should answer the question.

It's not a good sign when a company moves down to the lowest markets. I believe that "pinks" are less regulated that our AIM. It would be worth checking whether your holding has any significant value before going to any inconvenience. The company is listed on the London Stock Exchange Electronic Trading Service: Quotes and Crosses (SETSqx) service with no market makers. This suggests that it will be possible to trade the shares through a mainstream broker although the market is likely to be illiquid and there may be a large spread between the last buying price and the last selling price.

Thrugelmir

Have you tried IG, or alternatively a stockbroker such as Redmayne Bentley? 

DireEmblem

Pretty poor a broker allows you to buy something, but not sell.
They should allow you to sell or transfer.

Thrugelmir

DireEmblem said:

Pretty poor a broker allows you to buy something, but not sell.
They should allow you to sell or transfer.

Buy an obscure foreign entity that isn't traded on UK exchanges at your own risk. Brokers need access to suitable UK market makers. Shares were downgraded over 3 years ago in February 2018, not a new event

underground99

DireEmblem said:

Pretty poor a broker allows you to buy something, but not sell.
They should allow you to sell or transfer.

The broker offered the OP the service of trading his shares on certain overseas stock exchanges. The company agreed to no longer be traded on such stock exchanges, which isn't the fault of the broker.

The broker doesn't offer the service of trading  obscure 'pink sheets' stocks over the counter in the US. So, they aren't going to sell the stocks.

There's no indication that the broker would refuse to transfer the shares to another firm who could help. But there's no obligation for the broker to identify such firms in behalf of the OP. It's the OP's problem to solve.

maxsteam

underground99 said:
But there's no obligation for the broker to identify such firms in behalf of the OP. It's the OP's problem to solve.

No. There is no obligation. But OP is a paying customer of the broker. It would be a professional courtesy for the broker to answer such a question with an alternative or two.

badge57

Thanks to all for your helpful replies. To be fair to HL there was no advance notice of the SEC’s decision so they couldn’t give me any warning. They also confirmed they would transfer the shares electronically if I could find a suitable broker. At the time the shares were only a dollar or two so I decided to wait and see what happened. About 6 months ago the price started to go up, accelerating once the details of Joe Biden’s green deal came out? I have some building work going on and thought 2 or 3000 quid would be a big help with that so, last December I started looking into brokers that might be able to help. I thought I had it sorted with Interactive Brokers; they confirmed they traded Solarwindow and advised I could transfer my shares across from HL. It took them 10 weeks to decide to reject the transfer as I didn’t have £5m in my new account. It was pretty frustrating watching the price rise to almost $40 and not be able to sell as my 1000 shares would have more than paid for my home extension 🤔. Still, the price is still around $15 so still a very nice bonus pay day if I can solve the broker issue 🤞. IG is one I have already tried so I’ll move on to Charles Schwartz and Redmayne Bentley next. Thanks again for your help.