The U.S. SEC plans to ease listing rules for small businesses to boost the IPO market.

PANews, December 2 news, according to Jin10 reports, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is planning to facilitate listings for small companies by reducing mandatory disclosure requirements and scaling down compliance standards based on company size. SEC Chairman Paul Atkins stated in a speech prepared for an event at the New York Stock Exchange on Tuesday that this move could increase the IPO pipeline and revitalize the roster of listed companies. The revisions include providing companies with at least a two-year (rather than just one year) “transition period” to gradually meet listing rules, such as phased disclosure of information to investors and submission of other reports. The agency will also reevaluate the definition criteria for small businesses to alleviate their burden. Atkins noted that the last major adjustment to the definition of company size was twenty years ago and lamented that the current number of listed companies has decreased by about half compared to thirty years ago. “Our regulatory framework should provide IPO opportunities for companies at all stages of growth and in all industries,” he said, pointing out that compliance costs “can have a disproportionate impact on some companies.”