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14 Va. L. & Bus. Rev. 1 (2020)

handle is hein.journals/valbr14 and id is 1 raw text is: 











VIRGINIA LAW & BUSINESS REVIEW
VOLUME 14                      WINTER 2020                       NUMBER 1


  WHEN, AS, AND IF: HOW AN OBSCURE SECURITY
  COULD MAKE INITIAL PUBLIC OFFERINGS MORE
                               EFFICIENT

                            Frederick   A. Elmore   IVt

                                  ABSTRACT

         Public equity markets face increasing competition from private sources of
         capital. Once a rich and reliable source of diversified wealth creation, the
         growth of relatively inexpensive substitute financing sources has attenuated
         the size and diversity of the public markets. While looking for ways to
         make  the public securities markets more attractive, Congress should
         consider taking a cue from the market's past. When-issued trading could
         help reduce the transaction and agency costs associated with the current
         firm-commitment IPO process, making public markets more attractive
         and accessible to private companies. As an independent signal and
         unbiased estimate of the underlying security's seconday market price, the
         when-issued market price could provide greater certainty about aggregate
         demand for the offering and allay agency concerns, potentially leading to
         lower underpricing spreads. The resulting increase in efficiency of the IPO
         pricing process would benefit capitalformation by making the transition
         to public markets more attractive to private companies. The creation of a
         regulated when-issued market for IPOs could be accomplished with a
         simple amendment to the Securities Act and a ner SEC regulation
         pursuant to Section 12(d) of the Exchange Act.






t   Frederick Elmore, an Associate at Cooley LLP, graduated from the University of Virginia
    School of Law with a J.D. and the Darden School of Business with an M.B.A. in 2019. He
    would like to thank Andrew Vollmer for his provocative questions, insightful comments,
    and reliable advice.

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Copyright © 2020 Virginia Law & Business Review Association

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