Australia to Shorten IPO Process by a Week to Attract Listings

The Australian Securities Investment Commission will begin testing a more streamlined process for local initial public offerings to encourage more companies to list in the country.

The trial, which begins today, should shave a week off the IPO process — from about 20 weeks now — by having the corporate watchdog review documents earlier, ASIC said in a statement. Only companies that will have a market value of over A$100 million ($65 million) will be eligible to participate in the pilot.