The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) plans to ease rules for small business listings to boost the IPO market.

PANews reported on December 2nd that, according to Jinshi, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is planning to facilitate IPOs for smaller companies by reducing mandatory disclosure requirements and streamlining compliance standards based on company size. SEC Chairman Paul Atkins, speaking in preparation for a New York Stock Exchange event on Tuesday, said the move could increase the IPO pipeline and revitalize the listed company lineup. The revisions include providing companies with at least a two-year (instead of just one-year) "transition period" to gradually meet listing rules, such as phased disclosures to investors and the submission of other reports. The agency will also re-evaluate the criteria for defining small businesses to alleviate their burden. Atkins pointed out that the last major overhaul of the company size definition criteria was twenty years ago, and lamented that the number of listed companies is now about half that of thirty years ago. "Our regulatory framework should provide IPO opportunities for companies at all stages of growth and in all industries," he said, noting that compliance costs "could disproportionately impact some companies."