Mergers acquisitions and international financial regulation : analysing special purpose acquisition companies This is a much needed work in the financial literature and it is the first book ever to analyse the use of Special Purpose Acquisition Companies (SPACs) from a theoretical and practical perspective. By the end of 2020 more than 240 SPACs listed in the U.S. (on NASDAQ or the NYSE) raising a record USD 83 billion. The SPAC craze has been shaking the U.S. for months mainly because of its simplicity: a bunch of investors decides to buy shares at a fixed price in a company that initially has no assets. In this way a SPAC also known as a blank check company is created as an empty shell with lots of money to spend on a corporate shopping spree. Could the trend be here to stay Are SPACs the new legitimate path to traditional IPO This book tackles those questions and more. The author provides a thorough analysis of SPACs including their legal framework and how they are used as a risk mitigation tool to structure transactions. The main objectives of the book are focused on finding a working definition for SPACs and theorising on their origins definition and evolution; identifying the objectives of financial regulation within the context of the recent financial crisis (2007 2010) and the one that is currently unfolding (Covid 19); and also describing practical examples of SPACs through a comparative study that for the first time outlines every major capital market on which SPACs are listed in order to identify a possible international standard of regulation. The book is relevant to academics as well as policymakers international financial regulators corporate finance lawyers as well as to the financial industry tout court.