Section 12(j) of the Securities and Exchange Act of 1934 states that :
“The Commission is authorized …. To revoke the registration of a security, if the Commission finds, on the records after notice and opportunity for hearing, that the issuer of such security has failed to comply with any provision of this title or the rules and regulations thereunder.”
The actual process of delisting seems to be that the SEC gives notice to the company of its delinquencies in their filings and warns that action will be taken if the company does not fix the problem. If the company fails to properly file within a stated period, the SEC will seek an order to suspend or revoke the company’s registration. If an Order is granted, the company has a period of time to appeal the Order or otherwise do something about it (such as get current in their filings)– 10 days usually. Even if the company does not respond to the Order, the registration does not automatically get revoked. The Order just gives SEC authority to revoke the companies registration if it decides to do so.
Hope this helps