US 'must revise Sarbox to stay competitive'

A business group with close links to
US Treasury
Secretary Henry Paulson, has advised that the US revise their regulation and
stay competitive.

The Committee on Capital Markets Regulation group was
referring to the stringent Sarbanes-Oxley
Act, which has made the US a less attractive place to invest.

The group said that the intense regulation, fear of litigation and legal
battles has caused foreign companies to de-list from US stock markets.

Paulson said earlier this month that the Sarbanes-Oxley Act did not need
changes, but added the US should look at how the rules were being enforced.

‘Firms must choose to come to the US: they do not have to come,’ the group
said in its 135-page report.

‘In the shift of regulatory intensity, balance has been lost to the
competitive disadvantage of US financial markets.

‘The evidence suggests that balance does need to be restored,’ it added. In
its report, the CCMR said that US markets attracted 8% of global stock market
flotations, or initial public offerings (IPOs).

That compares with almost 50% of IPOs in the 1990s, the CCMR said. All but
one of the world’s biggest IPOs took place outside of the US this year.

Further reading:

US reins back Sarbox

Auditing costs still too high due to
Sarbox

Audit watchdog to trim down Sarbox