On April 17, 2020, the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) approved, with immediate effectiveness, the proposal filed by The Nasdaq Stock Market (“Nasdaq”) to permit a longer period of time for Nasdaq-listed companies to regain compliance with the exchange’s bid price and market value of publicly-held shares continued listing requirements by tolling the compliance periods through June 30, 2020. Nasdaq’s continued listing standards require that companies maintain a minimum $1 bid price and market value of publicly-held shares of at least $5 million or $15 million depending upon the applicable Nasdaq standard. This temporary relief allows companies that are out of compliance with Nasdaq’s price-based requirements additional time to regain compliance. However, throughout the tolling period, Nasdaq will continue to notify companies of new instances of non-compliance. Companies that are notified about non-compliance are required to make a public announcement disclosing receipt of the notification by filing a Form 8-K with the SEC or by issuing a press release notwithstanding the tolling period. Starting on July 1, 2020, companies would receive the balance of any pending compliance period in effect at the start of the tolling period to come back into compliance with the applicable Nasdaq requirement. Companies that are newly identified as non-compliant during the tolling period would have 180 days to regain compliance beginning on July 1, 2020. Nasdaq will continue to monitor companies to determine if they regain compliance during the tolling period.
Here is a link to the SEC’s approval.