Circle Denies Blaming SEC For Shuttered $9B Plan To Open Up To The World

A Jan. 25 Report from the Financial Times which was broadly shared characterized Circle as having “blamed” the SEC for its “jettisoned” public listing plan.

A Spokesperson for USD Coin issuer Circle has denied reports that it blames the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) more than its fizzled $9 billion plan to go public in December.

The stablecoin issuer representative was answering a Jan. 25 Financial Times article that Characterized Circle as having “blamed” the securities regulator for its “wrecked” listing by stalling on the approval of a merger agreement

However, a Circle spokesperson clarified that was not the case and that it holds no blame over the SEC for the termination of its merger agreement.

“Circle has not and does not blame the SEC for anything relating to the common termination of our SPAC merger agreement with Concord, and any statements to the contrary are inaccurate.”

Circle’s listing on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) was pegged on them having the option to combine with Concord, a company set up by banker Bob Diamond by means of a Special Purpose Acquisition Company arrangement, also known as a SPAC deal.

However, according to the FT, Circle said the merger neglected to be consummated because of the SEC not proclaiming the related S-4 registration effective in time, which would cause the agreement to pass on Dec. 10.

Circle’s spokesperson, however, referred to past statements made by the company in December, noticing that “the deal basically termed out.”

Concord had not freely revealed a reason for the bombed business combination, yet documented a 8-K form with the SEC on Dec. 5 — the same day the deal was declared as terminated — which revealed that it was being delisted by the NYSE because of “unusually low trading price levels.”
Without a doubt, in a Dec. 5 tweet, Circle co-founder and CEO Jeremy Allaire had only sure words in regards to the SEC and noted that while it was frustrating that they couldn’t complete qualifications in time it was still planning on becoming a freely listed company.

The deal was first declared in July 2021 at a valuation of $4.5 billion, before multiplying last February, when it was changed up to $9 billion.