NEW YORK — The Securities and Exchange Commission censured OTC Link LLC on September 22, 2026. The agency ordered the New York-based broker dealer to pay a $575,000 civil penalty.

OTC Link LLC operates OTC Link ATS, an alternative trading system for over-the-counter securities that provides price and liquidity information. Between August 2016 and March 2025, the firm failed to establish, maintain, and enforce written policies and procedures required by Regulation Systems Compliance and Integrity for the platform.

Staff in the SEC’s Division of Examinations examined OTC Link ATS several times during that period. During these examinations, SEC staff flagged required policies and procedures that OTC Link LLC had not established or had kept in draft form. The unenforced policies included those pertaining to system security, access control, and application vulnerability management, testing, and remediation. OTC Link LLC failed to finalize or enforce the policies flagged by SEC examination staff.

The SEC order finds that OTC Link LLC violated Rule 1001(a)(1) of Regulation SCI. The order states the firm lacked written policies and procedures reasonably designed to ensure that OTC Link ATS’s SCI systems and indirect SCI systems had adequate levels of capacity, integrity, resiliency, availability, and security. The SEC order also finds that OTC Link LLC violated Rules 1001(a)(2) and 1001(a)(3) of Regulation SCI by failing to have required minimum policies and procedures, periodically review their effectiveness, and take prompt action to remedy deficiencies.

OTC Link LLC agreed to a cease-and-desist order without admitting the findings. Laura D’Allaird, Chief of the Division of Enforcement’s Cyber and Emerging Technologies Unit, addressed the regulatory failures. "OTC Link’s continual failure to remediate deficiencies even after they were repeatedly flagged by Division of Examinations staff reflects a disregard for their findings and the overall examinations process and justifies a meaningful penalty, D’Allaird said."

D’Allaird added that compliance is mandatory for market participants. All SCI entities are expected to take their regulatory responsibilities seriously and promptly fix issues when they're identified," she said."