The New York Stock Exchange wants to give the companies the ability to raise capital through direct listing. Today, companies are permitted to list their shares directly on the exchange for existing shareholders to liquidate, but not raise additional capital. Direct listing are quite uncommon with only 2 major companies opting to debut their shares this way in the past 2 years. Spotify ( SPOT - Free Report ) was the first company to use this method of public listing in April of 2018 and Slack followed earlier this year. This move would give companies the option to sidestep the kings of Wall Street, the investment banks (IB). Investment banks have been taking a piece of every IPO since the beginning of the modern financial system. Investment banks rule over Wall Street may be coming to an end NYSE's new proposal would allow companies to raise capital on the world's largest exchange without the help of IBs. Investment banks charge up to 7% to underwrite a public share offering.