Report comment

Shares in a quoted company can be suspended for two reasons:

The company requests suspension

If a company is about to announce news of material significance to investors and it fears that a disorderly market may be created by a leak, it can ask the London Stock Exchange to suspend trading in its shares until after the announcement.

The most common reason for this is that the company is about to participate in a bid for, or by, another company. But there could be other reasons - for example if the company has unusually bad news (the MD has just fled to Brazil).

The Stock Exchange frowns on long, voluntary suspensions. It takes the view that investors should always be able to sell unwanted stock, even at very bad prices.

The Stock Exchange suspends trading
This usually heralds very bad news, although suspension can also be the Exchange's only effective sanction against a company which persists in breaking its rules.

Shares suspended by the Exchange find it hard to return to a full listing. Sometimes the company in question has gone bankrupt. In these circumstances, shareholders just have to grit their teeth and hope something emerges from the gloom.