After extending to early January 2018 the time period for its review of Nasdaq's fall 2017 proposed rules intended to ease listing requirements for special purpose acquisition companies (SPACs), the SEC recently instituted proceedings to determine whether to approve the proposed rules.
SPACs are public shell companies whose purpose is to identify and acquire a target within a set time period after their initial public offering or to refund their investors' monies. Nasdaq has proposed to reduce the number of SPAC round lot holders from 300 to 150 for initial listing and to eliminate the continued listing requirement of at least 300 public holders, to require that SPACs maintain at least $5 million in net tangible assets for initial and continued listing on Nasdaq Capital Market, and to provide SPACs listed on any Nasdaq listing tiers with 30 days to demonstrate compliance with initial listing requirements following each business combination.
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