Below is a daily summary of links to the latest SPAC news and rumors gathered across the web. 

Latest SPAC News: Hong Kong market regulator urges city to uphold rule of law, IPO market freeze sparks 80% drop in Nasdaq listings, and Grab takes cost-cutting measures 

Top Hong Kong Market Regulator Urges City to Uphold Rule of Law

Hong Kong’s status as an international financial center hinges on ensuring investors have confidence that the city follows the “conventional” rule of law in place in other global hubs and maintaining its special role as a bridge between the world and China, according to Ashley Alder, the outgoing top market regulator.

Alder noted that “SPACs were one of the phenomena which basically signaled the final bit of bull market. We were very aware of that. Given that there seemed to be an inevitable, unstoppable drive to create a SPAC regime, we ended up with one that was deliberately designed to detoxify it. Because the incentives and other features of SPACs, without that sort of framework, in my view, broadly works against public investors.”

IPO market freeze sparks 80% drop in Nasdaq listings

Equity listings on the Nasdaq fell about 80% this year, as the appetite for new issues took a hit from extreme volatility in the stock market, sparked by the Federal Reserve’s war on inflation.

A total of 156 companies listed their shares on the bourse this year, raising nearly $15 billion in initial public offerings, a far cry from 743 firms that raised $180 billion in what was a blockbuster 2021, data from the exchange operator showed.

The year also saw a big drop in the listings of blank-check companies, as regulatory concerns and their free-falling share price seemed to have cooled Wall Street’s hottest investment trend of 2021. In total, 68 SPACs listed on the exchange in 2022, compared with 110 a year earlier.

Grab cost-cutting measures necessary but uncertainties continue to loom, say analysts

The recent round of cost-cutting measures undertaken by super app company Grab (NASDAQ:GRAB), coming two-and-a-half years since it last executed a major retrenchment exercise, was a necessary move given the firm’s financial situation, said analysts.

Its move was the latest in a spate of cost-cutting measures by high-profile tech firms, some of which have laid off workers, with one analyst describing Grab’s decision as a “matter of survival”.