The U.S. securities regulator is considering new guidance to rein in growth projections made by listed blank-check companies, and clarify when they qualify for certain legal protections. The previously unreported measures being weighed by staff at the SEC would escalate its crackdown on the deal frenzy in SPACs, which it worries is putting investors at risk.
RBC Capital Markets co-heads of SPAC coverage, Amir Emami and Michael Ventura, said valuations had been stretched during the SPAC boom and that, as with other frothy markets in the past, the sector was due a “reset.” “And then when there’s a reset, it’s a hard reset. So we’re going through that reset right now,” said Ventura.