US should emulate London's AIM for small public offerings

In his Business Law Prof Blog, Dale Oesterle states:

"The London Stock Exchange is successfully marketing a low cost public offering process to small companies, entitled the Alternative Investment Market (AIM). AIM caters to companies in the micro to small cap universe, offering access and liquidity comparable to NASDAQ at a lower total cost to the issuer. Small companies can raise capital on the AIM with fees and underwriting charges that are forty percent of those incurred in the United States markets. Under-pricing losses are less as well. The listing process takes only eight to twelve weeks, compared to the six to eight months required in the United States."