Millennium Cell Inc. (Eatontown, NJ) announced a favorable ruling by the Nasdaq Stock Market to continue the listing of the company's common stock on the Nasdaq National Market. The company had appealed an earlier decision by the Nasdaq to remove the company from the Nasdaq National Market listing due to deficiencies in Rule 4450(a)(3) of the Nasdaq Marketplace Rules, which sets forth a minimum $10 million stockholders' equity requirement.
In December 2002, Millennium Cell filed a compliance plan with Nasdaq in an effort to meet the requirement for $10 million in stockholder equity, a requirement that went into effect on November 1, 2002, as a result of changes to Nasdaq's Maintenance Standard 1. On January 25, 2003, the Nasdaq notified Millennium Cell that, based upon its failure to satisfy the $10,000,000 shareholders' equity requirement under Maintenance Standard 1 as of September 30, 2002, the company's securities were subject to immediate delisting. On January 28, 2003, the company requested a hearing, which stayed the delisting.
On March 11, 2003, the Securities and Exchange Commission approved certain changes to Nasdaq's bid price rules, including a reduction of the bid price standard under National Market Maintenance Standard 2 from $3 to $1 per share. Given the rule changes and its review, the Nasdaq determined that Millennium Cell complies with all requirements of Maintenance Standard 2 for continued listing on the Nasdaq National Market.
