Deficiency notice
If a company is in violation of the continued listing standards for a period of 30 consecutive days, the NASDAQ sends a "deficiency notice." The most common reasons for a deficiency notice are a share price that falls below $1.00 or a market cap that falls below the stated minimum (as low as $5 million if other requirements are satisfied).Once a deficiency notice has been sent, the company has 90 days to comply with the continued listing standards, or 180 days if the violation was for a sub-$1.00 share price. In order to be compliant, the company's share price or market cap must rise above the minimum for at least 10 consecutive days in the 90-day (or 180-day) period.
If the company fails to comply
If the conditions that triggered the deficiency notice are not met in time, the NASDAQ will then send the company a delisting letter, which must be disclosed to the public within four business days.There is an appeal procedure that a company can use, if it feels that it doesn't deserve to be delisted or if it can regain compliance in a reasonable amount of time. Once the company receives the delisting letter, it has seven days to request a hearing with the NASDAQ listing qualification panel to present its case, which postpones the delisting process until the panel makes a decision.Unless an appeal is filed, the company's stock is halted, and then delisted after seven days. If the appeal is rejected, the company also has the option to appeal to the SEC or in federal court. The NASDAQ gives the company an additional 15 days to do so, but begins its final delisting procedures during that time.