Month: June 2021

The House hears about SPACs

Congress now seems to be all over this SPAC phenomenon.  Last week a subcommittee of the House Financial Services Committee held a hearing on “Going Public: SPACs, Direct Listings, Public Offerings, and the Need for Investor Protections.” What is the headline from the hearing?  All the witnesses agreed that, to prevent regulatory arbitrage, all IPO vehicles, whether traditional IPOs or SPACs, should operate on a level playing field and be subject to the same type of regulation of disclosure and liability.  Many House members also took the opportunity to promote their own proposed or pending legislation about the capital markets, and several House members offered their recommendations for a happy marriage. At a separate hearing, SEC Chair Gary Gensler gave testimony before a different subcommittee, which in part addressed SPACs.  Is some kind of Congressional action in the offing?