The Nasdaq Listing and Hearing Review Council (Listing Council) is a standing independent advisory committee appointed by the Nasdaq Board of Directors to provide advice to the Board of the Nasdaq Stock Market LLC on issues relating to listed companies, consistent with the Board's core responsibility of seeking independent, outside advice. The Listing Council also plays an appellate role in the Nasdaq adjudicatory process, as described below, to promote the consistent and fair application of listing rules and policies.
The Listing Council was established nearly 20 years ago and Nasdaq is the only exchange with a permanent advisory body of this type. The charter of the Listing Council outlines its role and responsibilities. Members of the Listing Council come from diverse constituencies including institutional investor advocates, company representatives, lawyers, accountants, securities industry professionals and academics.
The Listing Council discharges its appellate responsibilities in part by hearing and deciding appeals of delisting decisions. As discussed more fully in Rule Series 5800 and in the frequently asked questions for the Hearings and Appeals Process, a company may seek review of a Staff Delist Determination before an independent Hearings Panel, and may appeal the Hearings Panel decision to the Listing Council. The Listing Council also reviews all Panel decisions, regardless of whether they are appealed, and may decide on its own to reverse or modify a Panel decision as a result of that review. The Listing Council decision is the final action of Nasdaq, unless the Nasdaq Board calls the matter for review. The Listing Council's decision, or that of the Nasdaq Board, may be appealed to the Securities and Exchange Commission.
To provide transparency regarding our Listing Rules and policies, Nasdaq publishes anonymous summaries of Listing Council decisions. For your convenience, our system facilitates searches across our different reference sources (i.e., FAQs, Governance Clearinghouse, Staff Interpretation Letters, and Listing Council Decisions) by category and sub-category (e.g., Regulatory Authority-Public Interest). Users can also use our advanced search feature to target their search by applying filters and entering keywords.
If you have any questions after reviewing this material, please contact Staff by telephone at +1 301 978 8008 or by email at appeals@nasdaq.com.