The chief executive of Australian Careers Network, Ivan Brown, says the company needs much more time to prepare a thorough response to regulatory matters concerning two of its businesses, which is why it has asked that its shares be suspended for up to five weeks.

The company is mindful of what happened to rival Vocation, which suffered a share price rout late in 2014 that stripped $700 million from its market capitalisation. He says if ACN resumed trading on Thursday on the Australian Securities Exchange, the market wouldn't be fully informed about the regulatory situation and its impact on the business.