Voluntary suspensions almost always follow trading halts....

Voluntary suspensions almost always follow trading halts. Neither are discretionary, there are rules surrounding why and when they can be requested and they all are part of continuous disclosure principles.

A company must request a trading halt if it holds material information that it must announce under continuous disclosure rules but is unable to make that announcement within an acceptable timeframe, usually within hours. A trading halt is therefore requested, the default timeframe is two days. If the company needs longer than two days, it can't extend the trading halt, so it either must recommence trading or request a suspension. This is normal.

A hypothetical example, Company A checks out Prospect B. Company A likes Prospect B and says it wants to buy it.Prospect B states its terms. Company A takes these terms to its Board who formally approves acquiring Prospect B, subject to revised or additional terms. Before this point, they were simply negotiating and therefore it would not be material enough to disclose. But as soon as the Board gives a conditional green light to go, it's at that point Company A would have to request a trading halt because these negotiations have progressed to a point to be material, even if they are not final. If it hasn't finalised terms within the two days, it requests a suspension.

If you've had poor experience with suspensions, there could be a multitude of reasons for that, it'snot the suspension that's the issue.