Opinion by Timothy J. Keating
We have written in the past about the many factors that have conspired to compromise the traditional, underwritten IPO, particularly for smaller issuers that raise less than $50 million in a public offering. The causes of the extinction of the small IPO include: Sarbanes-Oxley, Regulation FD and the Spitzer “global settlement” on equity research. But it’s not only the primary market that has been affected. Although less headline grabbing, the knock-on effects of these ill-conceived “reforms” have also had insidious impacts on the pillars of the aftermarket, namely research and trading.
