The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on Tuesday proposed two new rules it says would make it easier for companies to go public. According to Axios, it is the largest overhaul of the IPO rules in 20 years, and part of SEC chairman Paul Atkins’ push to “make IPOs great again.”
The first of the two proposals would, among changes, lift the threshold at which companies become known as “large accelerated filers” from $700 million to $2 billion in the total value of shares that are available for sale and trading by the public. Such large firms are deemed mature public companies, facing stricter scrutiny and tighter deadlines for annual and quarterly reports and have to get independent auditors to vouch for the quality of their internal financial record keeping.
READ: These 3 upcoming IPOs might soon join the $1 trillion club (May 4, 2026)
Under the proposal, all companies would avoid this category for five years after making their Wall Street debuts. They would also avoid certain disclosure requirements on executive compensation tied to shareholder advisory votes, among other changes.
SEC officials believe that these changes would mean that about one in five current publicly traded companies would still qualify as large accelerated filers meeting the stricter requirements but those companies would still account for 90% of market capitalization.
The SEC also proposed expanding the number of companies able to issue so-called “shelf offerings.” Under existing regulations, companies are allowed to pre-register securities with the SEC and later sell them when market conditions are favorable.
Companies are currently required to have at least $75 million in shares publicly available for sale and trading and must have been subject to SEC reporting requirements for a year. Tuesday’s proposal would remove the requirement.
READ: Elon Musk to retain control of SpaceX even after IPO (April 23, 2026)
An SEC official said that the proposed changes would not apply to so-called foreign private issuers, which offer less investor transparency and are the subject of other possible rule changes, so-called blank-check companies, penny stock firms and shell companies, according to Reuters.
This comes amid a decline in IPOs in the last three decades. One reason for this is that there’s now a lot more private capital available from venture investors, private equity firms and others, so companies can raise huge amounts without public filing requirements and more regulations.
However, many big firms are planning to go public this year, making it a good year for IPOs. Elon Musk’s SpaceX has recently confidentially filed for an IPO in a move that puts the aerospace company in a position to potentially outpace rivals like OpenAI and Anthropic in the race to tap public markets. Various reports suggest that OpenAI could conduct an IPO as soon as the 2026 fourth quarter. OpenAI rival Anthropic is also set to go public this year, according to multiple reports.