NYSE American Amends Initial Listing Standards to Require Unrestricted Publicly-Held Shares and Raise Minimums for Liquidity
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NYSE American is tightening its initial listing requirements in Sections 101 and 102 of the Company Guide. Restricted securities (private placements, employee shares, lock-ups, Regulation S, Rule 144) will now be excluded from publicly-held shares calculations. The minimum market value of Unrestricted Publicly-Held Shares is raised to $15 million for Standards 1-3 and $20 million for Standard 4. Companies listing via IPO or underwritten offering must meet the $15M/$20M threshold solely from offering proceeds. The minimum stock price for all standards increases from $2-3 to $4.00 per share. Total market capitalization for existing public companies must be maintained for 90 consecutive days. Stockholders' equity for Standard 2 rises from $4M to $5M. These changes aim to improve liquidity, reduce volatility and limit manipulation risk.
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Key Changes
- Restricted securities (private placements, lock-ups, Rule 144, Regulation S, employee shares) excluded from publicly-held shares calculations
- Minimum market value of Unrestricted Publicly-Held Shares raised to $15,000,000 for Initial Listing Standards 1, 2 and 3
- Minimum market value of Unrestricted Publicly-Held Shares set at $20,000,000 for Initial Listing Standard 4
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Obligations
What this law requires
Companies seeking initial listing must meet minimum market value of $15 million in Unrestricted Publicly-Held Shares for Standards 1-3, and $20 million for Standard 4
Exclude restricted securities from publicly-held shares calculations, including private placements, employee shares, lock-ups, Regulation S securities, and Rule 144 restricted securities
Companies listing via IPO or underwritten offering must meet the $15 million or $20 million Unrestricted Publicly-Held Shares threshold solely from offering proceeds
Maintain minimum stock price of $4.00 per share for all initial listing standards
For Standard 2, maintain minimum stockholders' equity of $5 million