An new option: Voluntary delisting

This is what you might call the least attractive of the responses to Sarbox: Bennett Environmental, a Canadian company, will voluntarily delist from the American Stock Exchange. It has pitched the move as a cost-saving effort. It will no longer have to comply with Sarbox. And, because it will deregister its shares with the SEC, it will also slash its reporting requirements. Presumably, it's shares will continue to trade on the Toronto exchange. Will we see an increase in American companies doing this, to trade on the Pink Sheets or elsewhere? I do not see a groundswell. But for a hard-lock company with almost zero trading volume, why not? If it gets to that point, Sarbox-related costs are not likely to be the tipping point. But Sarbox is a great excuse for just about anything these days.

For more on this:
- here's the Bennett release