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ARTICLE · 14 MARCH 2023

Going Public In The 2020s

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Speaking at a conference at Columbia University as part of the Columbia Law and Business Schools' Program in the Law and Economics of Capital Markets, Securities and Exchange Commission Commissioner Uyeda shared his views regarding the private markets.

United StatesCorporate/Commercial Law

Speaking at a conference at Columbia University as part of the Columbia Law and Business Schools' Program in the Law and Economics of Capital Markets, Securities and Exchange Commission Commissioner Uyeda shared his views regarding the private markets and some of the challenges facing smaller public companies.

The Commissioner noted the decline in the number of U.S. public companies, with the number of public companies having declined by nearly 50% by 2019 from the 8,000 or so in 1996. In part, the Commissioner observed, the decline is attributable to the decline in the number of IPOs (between 1990 and 2000 there 4,194 IPOs by U.S. operating companies and between 2001 and 2021 there were only 2,276 IPOs). Some companies have chosen M&A exits instead of IPOs. The costs and burdens associated with regulatory compliance requirements may have deterred other companies from choosing to pursue IPOs. Consistent with data included in the 2022 Report from the SEC's Office of

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