It might seem like eons ago that ASX announced its intention to
tighten the requirements for new listings on ASX – because it
was. As reported in our earlier alerts of
16 May 2016,
25 May 2016 and
27 July 2017, the ASX has finally released the new raft of
listing rule changes around the enhanced listing criteria set to
commence on 19 December – Merry Christmas!
You might recall our previous alerts outlined what were some
significant changes to the listing criteria, seeking, presumably,
to squeeze out smaller, start-up and less established players from
seeking listing on ASX. There was significant public criticism of
ASX's approach, and a number of submissions made to ASX on this
point (including from this firm). Principal amongst those
complaints were those related to the proposed doubling of the
minimum market capitalisation from $10 million to $20 million and,
specifically, a requirement for there to be a minimum number of
holders under the "spread" requirement
