The NASDAQ Listing Qualifications Department is currently accepting public comment on a new draft of its Marketplace Rules. The Rules, which describe the requirements for listing securities on NASDAQ, have been reorganized, and in some cases rewritten, to make them easier to navigate and understand; however, no substantive changes have been made.
Several improvements have been implemented, including a logical order for the Rules that begins with NASDAQ’s overall regulatory authority, then describes the requirements of each tier of the NASDAQ markets, including Global Select, Global, and Capital Markets, and then addresses corporate governance requirements, non-traditional securities listings, the process for regaining compliance, and fees, in that order.
Other new organizational features include more descriptive headings, a definitions section that precedes the Rules, elimination of sections that have been “reserved” due to deletions over the years, and discrete sections for interpretative materials.
NASDAQ will receive comments until February 1, 2008, and the changes will be filed with the SEC by the end of the first quarter 2008.
