On October 29, 2018, Bill Haddad was quoted in Bloomberg Law Corporate Law News on how the NYSE revised a rule proposal to ease listing for special-purpose acquisition companies (SPACs), noting that the SEC raised questions when the NYSE and Nasdaq first proposed similar changes.
According to the article, the updated proposal seeks to lower the minimum number of shareholders of a SPAC listed on the NYSE, between the IPO and an eventual acquisition to 100 from 300. Because of SPACs' typically limited number of shares and investors, the SEC has expressed concerns that this could result in exposing them to price manipulation. Nasdaq noted that the structure of these companies helps to ensure shares trade at a price that's close to their redemption value.
The NYSE's new proposal also asks for added discretion to allow SPACs additional time post-acquisition to prove they have enough shareholders.
Mr. Haddad said, "Given that it's just a shell company with cash, I really don’t think that [the rule change] is problematic."