Rule 4450(b)(4): $3 minimum bid price requirement for continued listing on the National Market under Maintenance Standard 2.
Rule 4450(b)(3): $15,000,000 market value of publicly held shares requirement for continued listing on the National Market under Maintenance Standard 2.
Issue: At the time of the Panel's decision, the company's common share closing bid price was below $3, and its market value of publicly held shares was below $15,000,000. The company also did not meet the requirements for continued inclusion
on the SmallCap Market.
Determination: The Panel's determination to delist the company's securities from The NASDAQ Stock Market was appropriate at the time of the decision. Based on events occurring after the Panel's decision, the Panel's decision was reversed.
Under Listing Rule 4330(e), a security that has been terminated from NASDAQ must meet the initial listing requirements before re-inclusion. Approximately two weeks after the Panel's decision, the company's stock price increased above $1. The company also met
all of the initial listing requirements for the National Market, except for the $5 minimum bid price requirement, as set forth in Listing Rule 4420, and the initial listing requirements for the SmallCap Market, except for the $4 minimum bid price requirement,
as set forth in Listing Rule 4310(c)(4). The company's closing bid price had been above $1 per share for approximately two months; therefore, the company would still have been
within the 180-day bid price grace period afforded to SmallCap issuers, as set forth in Listing Rule 4310(c)(8)(D). Accordingly, the Listing Council waived the $4 initial listing bid price requirement and instead required that the company meet the $1 continued
listing bid price requirement on the SmallCap Market. The company was not provided with an exception to the $5 minimum bid price initial listing requirement on the National Market, because it was non-compliant for nine months with the $3 minimum bid price
continued listing requirement. The matter was remanded to the Panel with instruction to relist the company's securities on the SmallCap Market effective upon the completion of Staff's review of the company's application. This process requires the company to:
(1) file an application for new listing, (2) pay all applicable listing fees, and (3) evidence compliance with all requirements for initial listing on the SmallCap Market, except that the company must demonstrate a minimum bid price of $1 instead of $4. Furthermore,
at the time of Staff's review of the application, there must be no adverse developments or public interest reasons justifying denial of listing.