Is there a trading market for Rule 144A securities?
Yes, in theory. Rule 144A securities may be traded on the PORTAL market, a private securities trading platform. PORTAL, which stands for “Private Offerings, Resale and Trading through Automated Linkages,” is NASDAQ’s screen-based automated trading system. In November 2007, NASDAQ and 12 leading securities firms announced their intention to form The Portal Alliance, an industry standard facility designed to trade Rule 144A securities, to replace PORTAL. See “What is the PORTAL Alliance?” below.In practice, even though many underwriters require that Rule 144A securities be eligible to trade in the PORTAL market, relatively few securities are traded through it at present.
