Digital World Acquisition ---more informally known as the special-purpose acquisition corp. tied to former president Donald Trump---said in a public filing on Monday that the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority and the Securities and Exchange Commission had requested information from it about its trading and communications with Trump entities before the announcement of a prospective SPAC deal two months ago. So-called DWAC, referring to its ticker symbol, "has received certain preliminary, fact-finding inquiries from regulatory authorities, with which it is cooperating," the entity wrote in a public filing. Shares of the SPAC, which plans to merge with ex-president Trump's new social media business, surged more than 90% on Oct. 22 on reports of its plans, after rising more than fourfold on the Thursday before. Shares of DWAC hit a peak at $175 in late-October on heavy volume but has since tumbled 76% from that peak, FactSet data show. DWAC's plan had been to merge with Trump's start-up Trump Media & Technology Group. So-called SPACs, also known as blank-check companies, raise money from investors to take private businesses public and have been a buzzy investment vehicle over the past two years at least.
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