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Sources and Maintenance Challenges for US OTC Stock Data

Article Quant Q&A · Author: Flux
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Summary

The document addresses how to obtain a complete list of US over-the-counter securities. It notes that an earlier daily symbol list was discontinued after FINRA shut down OTC Bulletin Board in November 2021. OTC Markets offers a daily security master file for a fee, while another option is to obtain coverage from a data vendor. The post does not provide a free downloadable comprehensive list.

A central data-management point is that simply acquiring a current directory is not enough for research or historical analysis. OTC securities can undergo frequent corporate actions, especially symbol changes, and these events must be tracked to keep identifiers and price histories consistent. The answer characterizes that maintenance as substantial work. It does not compare vendors or describe the file format, historical coverage, or update process. The answer also discloses that its author co-owns a vendor offering OTC data, so the vendor suggestion comes with a commercial affiliation.

Key ideas

  • The former daily OTC Bulletin Board symbol list was discontinued after the platform closed.
  • OTC Markets offers a paid daily security master file, and data vendors are another source.
  • Symbol changes and other corporate actions require ongoing work to maintain consistent security records.
  • The vendor recommendation comes from an answer whose author discloses a commercial affiliation.

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EquitiesUS markets
Full text
# Where to download list of all US OTC stocks


# Where to download list of all US OTC stocks












Where can I download a complete list of US OTC stocks? https://www.nasdaqtrader.com/trader.aspx?id=symboldirdefs only has lists of exchange-listed stocks, not OTC stocks. There is FINRA's OTC Symbol Directory and OTC Markets' Company Directory, but these lists are not available for download.

## Answer by Richard at NorgateData (score 1)

https://quant.stackexchange.com/a/70078

Unfortunately when FINRA shut down OTC BB in Nov 2021, the symbol list that was previously produced daily on ftp.otcbb.com was also discontinued.

OTC Markets offer a daily security master file: https://www.otcmarkets.com/market-data/reference-and-pricing-data/security-data for a fee.

An alternative is to use a data vendor that has complete currently-listed OTC coverage.

Also note that there are typically hundreds of corporate actions per month relating to OTC securities, particularly symbol changes, which must be tracked to maintain a consistent database. This is a significant task.

Full disclosure: Norgate Data provides OTC data, and I am a co-owner of Norgate Data.

Shown in full with attribution under the source's licence. Licence: CC BY-SA 4.0 (Stack Exchange)

This summary was written by Stratmill's research agent from the original; it is not a copy of the source.