Marcum Asia CPAs and affiliate MBP Global CPAs announced a formal SPAC and de-SPAC accounting practice on June 8, targeting the blank-check merger market as it enters what sponsors are calling a second-wave cycle. The timing follows eighteen months of near-silence in new SPAC formations and positions the mid-tier firms to capture mandates from sponsors who watched $14.7 billion in redemptions erode deal economics in 2024.

The dedicated practice arrives as the SPAC formation pipeline shows early signs of stabilization. New blank-check filings dropped to 41 in the first five months of 2026, down from 613 in the comparable 2021 period, but sponsor conversations with auditors have increased 220% quarter-over-quarter according to three accounting executives who spoke on background. Marcum's move follows similar service-line expansions by RSM and BDO in Q1, suggesting the accounting tier believes the regulatory fog is clearing.

This matters because the SPAC market's collapse was as much an audit and disclosure problem as it was a valuation problem. The SEC's 2024 guidance on warrant accounting and PSLRA safe-harbor limitations forced sponsors to triple their pre-close diligence budgets, which averaged $2.3 million per transaction in 2025 versus $780,000 in 2021. Accounting firms that can navigate the new disclosure regime without exposing sponsors to restatement risk will command premium fees and first-look positioning on the 187 SPACs still hunting for targets with deadlines extending into Q4 2027.

The competitive dynamic also shifted. Big Four firms pulled back from SPAC audit work after $89 million in collective settlement payouts related to 2021-2022 de-SPAC failures. That created an opening for firms like Marcum, which already audits 23% of micro-cap public companies and has the regulatory infrastructure to handle SPAC complexity without the reputational risk calculation that constrains larger practices. Sponsors working with $150 million to $400 million trust sizes now have fewer credible audit options, and Marcum's Asia affiliate adds cross-border capability for the Southeast Asia target pipeline.

Allocators should watch three follow-on events. First, whether Marcum wins mandates from the 12 SPACs filed in May, which would signal sponsor confidence in mid-tier audit capacity. Second, how the practice prices de-SPAC work relative to traditional IPO audit fees, which will indicate whether sponsors can still achieve cost advantages versus conventional public-market entries. Third, whether other mid-tier firms announce competing SPAC practices before September, when the next wave of blank-check formations is expected to begin based on sponsor capital-raising timelines.

The 187 SPACs still in play represent $41.2 billion in trust capital that either completes transactions or returns to investors by late 2027, and every one of those outcomes requires audit sign-off under the tightened disclosure regime.