The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has approved proposals by the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) to remove restrictions preventing private companies from listing on its exchange without the need for a traditional public offering.

Joe Brantuk, vice president of listing services at Nasdaq and responsible for initial public offerings (IPOs), told IFLR that it’s too early to say whether the rule changes mean there will be more direct listings in the future. But it’s expected that they could have some impact.

 "There has been additional visibility with some big names in the market discussing potential to do direct listings on a national exchange, but it is still too early to say whether this is going to open up the gates for more companies to do direct listings or not," he said.Nearly all previous cases of successful direct listings in the US were listed on the...