NYSE eases rules as stock prices plunge

The New York Stock Exchange is relaxing its rules until June to prevent a wave of delistings as stocks tumble.

Companies will get a four-month reprieve on a requirement that shares remain above $1, said Glenn Tyranski, an NYSE senior vice president of financial compliance.

The NYSE will also extend until June a measure lowering the minimum market value to $15 million (£10.5 million) from $25 million. The provision would have expired in April.

The share-price extension provides a reprieve for about 65 companies including Ford and AIG. The NYSE had not suspended the $1 requirement in at least 13 years.

It previously delisted companies under the threshold after six months.

"As this affects more companies in so many diverse industries, the recovery period has stretched out so that the six months under the traditional model is not going to afford a reasonable opportunity for companies," Tyranski said. "These aren't developmental-stage companies. They have real employees and factories."