Securities Regulation. Improvements Needed in the Amex Listing Program

摘要

A September 2000 press account questioned the quality of companies newly listedfor trading on the American Stock Exchange (Amex) and warned that Amex risked losing its reputation by listing an increasing number of very small companies. The Chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) subsequently advised you that about one-third of Amex's new listings in the first 8 months of 2000 did not meet the exchanges equity listing standards, which Amex referred to as guidelines. The Commission stated separately that investors rightfully presume that the companies listed on Amex meet its guidelines and that the Commission would be concerned if Amex routinely approved listings that did not meet them. The development and implementation of listing guidelines fall within Amex's role as a self-regulatory organization (SRO). As part of its oversight of Amex in this role, the SEC Office of Compliance Inspections and Examinations (OCIE) inspected the operations of the Amex listing program and reported the results to Amex in April 2001.