Listing Process

What is the listing process?

To list its securities on an exchange, a company must meet the quantitative and qualitative requirements and submit an application to the exchange. The NYSE and 15 the NYSE MKT require that the company participate in a confidential pre-application eligibility review in order to determine whether the company meets its listing criteria. NASDAQ offers a similar preliminary listing eligibility review. In order for shares to be listed on the exchange, in addition to filing a registration statement for the IPO itself under the Securities Act, the issuer must also file a registration statement under the Exchange Act that acts as the continuing registration statement for the company after the IPO is completed. If the exchange listing is in conjunction with the IPO, the Exchange Act registration statement is a brief filing consisting primarily of cross-references to the Securities Act IPO registration statement. The exchange will review the application and supporting documentation and once the listing is approved, the shares will be admitted for trading after the Exchange Act and, if applicable, Securities Act registration statements have been declared effective by the SEC and the shares have been offered and sold if there is a concurrent IPO. A company cannot state in its preliminary prospectus that its shares have been approved for listing, subject to official notice of issuance, unless it has actually received such approval. As listing is often critical to the success of an IPO, it is best practice to get such approval before the preliminary prospectus has been printed.

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