Merriman Curhan Ford Announces Sponsorship of Pink OTC Markets Inc. on OTCQX

SAN FRANCISCO, March 11 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Merriman Curhan Ford (Nasdaq: MERR) today announced that it will serve as the Designated Advisor for Disclosure (DAD) for Pink OTC Markets Inc. as it lists on OTCQX®.

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OTCQX distinguishes the best companies traded OTC from more than 9,000 securities traded on the OTCBB and Pink Sheets®  that are not required to meet any financial standards or undergo a qualitative review.

Jon Merriman, Merriman Curhan Ford co-founder, said: "We continue to be big believers in OTCQX since we helped list the first company in March 2007.  To watch the market grow to 98 companies listed in just over three years shows the value that OTCQX offers OTC companies looking to differentiate themselves in the U.S. capital markets.  We are very excited to serve as Pink OTC Markets' Investment Bank DAD."

Pink OTC Markets Inc. (OTCQX: PINK), a financial information and technology services company that operates the leading electronic quotation and trading system in the U.S. OTC securities market, announced today that it has upgraded its shares of Class A common stock to OTCQX U.S. Premier - the highest tier of the OTC market.  Previously, the Company's shares were traded in the Pink Sheets® Current Information tier.

"We are upgrading Pink OTC Markets to OTCQX to offer our investors the highest level of transparency and marketplace efficiency available in the OTC market," said R. Cromwell Coulson, President and CEO of Pink OTC Markets.  "We are pleased to demonstrate that we hold our Company to the same high investor-focused standards as the other distinguished OTCQX companies trading in this top tier of the OTC market."

About Merriman Curhan Ford

Merriman Curhan Ford (NASDAQ: MERR) is a financial services firm focused on fast-growing companies and the institutions that invest in them. The company offers high-quality investment banking, equity research, institutional services and corporate & venture services, and specializes in five growth industry sectors: CleanTech, Consumer, Media & Internet, Health Care, Natural Resources and Technology. For more information, please go to www.mcfco.com.

About Pink OTC Markets Inc.

Pink OTC Markets Inc. (OTCQX: PINK) is a financial information and technology services company that operates the leading electronic quotation and trading system in the OTC securities market.  The OTCQX and Pink Sheets marketplaces constitute, by dollar volume, the third largest U.S. liquidity pool for trading public company shares, after The NASDAQ Stock Market, Inc. and The New York Stock Exchange.  Our technology platform provides a comprehensive suite of information products and trading services for OTC market participants.  Our products and services promote market transparency, improve price discovery, facilitate regulatory compliance, and increase the quality of issuer disclosure, to the benefit of all OTC market participants.  To learn more about how Pink OTC Markets' products and services make OTC markets more transparent, informed, and efficient, please visit our websites at www.otcmarkets.com, www.pinkotc.com and www.otcqx.com or contact us at [email protected].

About OTCQX

The OTCQX Marketplace is the premier tier of the U.S. OTC Market.  Investor-focused companies use the quality controlled OTCQX listing platform to offer investors transparent trading, superior information, and easy access through their regulated U.S. broker-dealers.  The innovative OTCQX platform offers companies and their shareholders a level of marketplace services formerly available only on a U.S. stock exchange.  For more information and to view a full list of OTCQX-listed companies, visit www.otcqx.com.

Note to Investors

This press release contains certain forward-looking statements based on our current expectations, forecasts and assumptions that involve risks and uncertainties. This release does not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of offers to buy any securities of the Company. Forward-looking statements in this release are based on information available to us as of the date hereof. Our actual results may differ materially from those stated or implied in such forward-looking statements, due to risks and uncertainties associated with our business, which include the risk factors disclosed in our Form 10-K/A filed on April 30, 2009 and our Form 10-Q filed on November 16, 2009. Forward-looking statements include statements regarding our expectations, beliefs, intentions or strategies regarding the future and can be identified by forward-looking words such as "anticipate," "believe," "could," "estimate," "expect," "intend," "may," "should," and "would" or similar words. We assume no obligation to update the information included in this press release, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. The Form 10-K/A filed on April 30, 2009 and Form 10-Q filed on November 16, 2009, together with this press release and the financial information contained herein, is available on our website by going to www.mcfco.com and clicking on "Investor Relations."

SOURCE Merriman Curhan Ford