Silicon Valley Wins as SEC Allows New Direct Listing
- NYSE plan could upend decades-long process for stock listings
- Critics say the change erodes crucial investor protections
Hot tech companies and other startups will soon be permitted to raise money on the New York Stock Exchange without paying big underwriting fees to Wall Street banks, a move that threatens to upend how U.S. initial public offerings have been conducted for decades.
The Securities and Exchange Commission announced Tuesday that it had approved an NYSE Group Inc. plan for so-called primary direct listings. The change marks a major departure from traditional IPOs, in which companies rely on investment banks to guide their share sales and stock is allocated to institutional investors the night before it starts trading. Instead, companies will now be able to sell shares directly on the exchange to raise capital -- something that’s not been previously been allowed.