Andy Altahawi advises companies on going public through a direct exchange listing — no traditional IPO, no underwriting syndicate, no lock-up. An international attorney with four decades across global law and U.S. capital markets, he practices listing advisory and consultancy — co-counseling with U.S.-admitted securities attorneys — for Southern California issuers and cross-border companies entering the American markets.
A direct exchange listing takes a company onto a national exchange by registering existing shares for public trading — the market sets the price, existing shareholders gain liquidity, and the company avoids underwriting discounts and dilution. It is the path Mr. Altahawi has specialized in for years, and it follows three disciplined phases.
Corporate housekeeping, audited financials, governance build-out, and the disclosure document — a Regulation A+ Form 1-A or an S-1 registration statement — prepared and filed with the SEC.
Meeting the exchange's quantitative and governance standards: shareholder counts, public float, market value, and share price, coordinated with the SEC review process through qualification or effectiveness.
Exchange application, listing approval, and the first day of trading — with the opening price discovered by the market itself, not fixed by an underwriting syndicate the night before.
Listing readiness and advisory for NASDAQ's market tiers — requirements analysis, application strategy, and coordination through approval, including uplistings from the OTC markets.
Learn more →New York Stock Exchange direct listing advisory — market value, distribution, and governance standards, and the path to the Big Board without a firm-commitment underwriting.
Learn more →Tier 2 Regulation A+ offerings up to $75 million — the JOBS Act's "mini-IPO" — from testing the waters through SEC qualification, as a capital raise, a listing vehicle, or both.
Learn more →S-1 registration statements, Regulation D private placements (506(b) and 506(c)), and Regulation S offshore offerings — structured to fit the company's capital plan and timetable.
Learn more →Foreign issuers entering the U.S. markets: holding structures, governance alignment, and coordination with U.S.-admitted securities counsel — informed by an international legal practice since 1986.
Learn more →Life as a public company: reporting cadence, exchange compliance, follow-on financing strategy including equity line facilities, and investor communications discipline.
Discuss your plan →Los Angeles is home to one of the deepest founder economies in the country — entertainment and media, aerospace, biotech, consumer brands, and the Silicon Beach technology corridor. Most of these companies will never take the traditional IPO route. The direct exchange path was built for exactly this market.
“Anyone evaluating an advisor should be able to see the complete record, from the primary sources, in one place.”
Mr. Altahawi publishes his full four-decade career record — including a complete, factual account of the one regulatory matter in his career, the 2018–2019 SEC Longfin matter, resolved by consent without admitting or denying the allegations — together with his own statement on it.
Record & Regulatory History Read his statement on the Longfin matter →
Consultations are confidential and without obligation — by email, WhatsApp, or the contact form.