Self-Regulatory Organizations;
Pursuant to Section 19(b)(1) /1/ of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (the “Act”) /2/ and Rule 19b-4 thereunder, /3/ notice is hereby given that, on
FOOTNOTE 1 15 U.S.C.78s(b)(1). END FOOTNOTE
FOOTNOTE 2 15 U.S.C. 78a. END FOOTNOTE
FOOTNOTE 3 17 CFR 240.19b-4. END FOOTNOTE
I.
The Exchange proposes to amend: (i) Footnote (E) to Section 102.01B of the NYSE Listed Company Manual (the “Manual”) to modify the provisions relating to the qualification of companies listing without a prior Exchange Act registration; (ii) Rule 15 to add a Reference Price for when a security is listed under Footnote (E) to Section 102.01B; (iii) Rule 104 to specify DMM requirements when a security is listed under Footnote (E) to Section 102.01B and there has been no trading in the private market for such security; and (iv) Rule 123D to specify that the Exchange may declare a regulatory halt in a security that is the subject of an initial public offering (“IPO”) or initial listing on the Exchange. The proposed rule change is available on the Exchange’s Web site at www.nyse.com, at the principal office of the Exchange, and at the
II.
In its filing with the Commission, the self-regulatory organization included statements concerning the purpose of, and basis for, the proposed rule change and discussed any comments it received on the proposed rule change. The text of those statements may be examined at the places specified in Item IV below. The Exchange has prepared summaries, set forth in sections A, B, and C below, of the most significant parts of such statements.
A.
1. Purpose
The Exchange proposes to amend: (i) Footnote (E) to Section 102.01B of the Manual to modify the provisions relating to the qualification of companies listing without a prior Exchange Act registration; (ii) Rule 15 to add a Reference Price for when a security is listed under Footnote (E) to Section 102.01B; (iii) Rule 104 to specify DMM requirements when a security is listed under Footnote (E) to Section 102.10B and there has been no trading in the private market for such security; and (iv) Rule 123D to specify that the Exchange may declare a regulatory halt in a security that is the subject of an IPO or initial listing on the Exchange
Amendments to Footnote (E) to Section 102.01B
Generally, the Exchange expects to list companies in connection with a firm commitment underwritten IPO, upon transfer from another market, or pursuant to a spin-off. Companies listing in connection with an IPO must demonstrate that they have
FOOTNOTE 4 Shares held by directors, officers, or their immediate families and other concentrated holdings of 10 percent or more are excluded in calculating the number of publicly-held shares. END FOOTNOTE
Section 102.01B currently contains a provision under which the Exchange recognizes that some companies that have not previously had their common equity securities registered under the Exchange Act, but which have sold common equity securities in a private placement, may wish to list their common equity securities on the Exchange at the time of effectiveness of a registration statement filed solely for the purpose of allowing existing shareholders to sell their shares. Footnote (E) to Section 102.01B provides that the Exchange will, on a case by case basis, exercise discretion to list such companies. In exercising this discretion, Footnote (E) provides that the Exchange will determine that such company has met the
Any Valuation used for purposes of Footnote (E) must be provided by an entity that has significant experience and demonstrable competence in the provision of such valuations. The Valuation must be of a recent date as of the time of the approval of the company for listing and the evaluator must have considered, among other factors, the annual financial statements required to be included in the registration statement, along with financial statements for any completed fiscal quarters subsequent to the end of the last year of audited financials included in the registration statement. The Exchange will consider any market factors or factors particular to the listing applicant that would cause concern that the value of the company had diminished since the date of the Valuation and will continue to monitor the company and the appropriateness of relying on the Valuation up to the time of listing. In particular, the Exchange will examine the trading price trends for the stock in the Private Placement Market over a period of several months prior to listing and will only rely on a Private Placement Market price if it is consistent with a sustained history over that several month period evidencing a market value in excess of the Exchange’s market value requirement. The Exchange may withdraw its approval of the listing at any time prior to the listing date if it believes that the Valuation no longer accurately reflects the company’s likely market value.
While Footnote (E) to Section 102.01B provides for a company listing upon effectiveness of a selling shareholder registration statement, it does not make any provision for a company listing in connection with the effectiveness of an Exchange Act registration statement in the absence of an IPO or other Securities Act registration. A company is able to become an Exchange Act registrant without a concurrent public offering by filing a Form 10 (or, in the case of a foreign private issuer, a Form 20-F) with the
The Exchange notes that the requirement of Footnote (E) that the Exchange should rely on recent Private Placement Market trading in addition to a Valuation may cause difficulties for certain companies that are otherwise clearly qualified for listing. Some companies that are clearly large enough to be suitable for listing on the Exchange do not have their securities traded at all on a Private Placement Market prior to going public. In other cases, the Private Placement Market trading is too limited to provide a reasonable basis for reaching conclusions about a company’s qualification. Consequently, the Exchange proposes to amend Footnote (E) to provide an exception to the Private Placement Market trading requirement for companies with respect to which there is a recent Valuation available indicating at least
The Exchange proposes to further amend Footnote (E) by providing that a valuation agent will not be deemed to be independent if:
* At the time it provides such valuation, the valuation agent or any affiliated person or persons beneficially own in the aggregate as of the date of the valuation, more than 5% of the class of securities to be listed, including any right to receive any such securities exercisable within 60 days.
–This is a summary of a
Citation: “82 FR 28200”
Document Number: “Release No. 34-80933; File No. SR-
Federal Register Page Number: “28200”
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