Competitive Advantage? Less Regulation

Scripps-Howard is reporting today on the trend toward listing shares outside the U.S. The London Stock Exchange, for example, has seen an upswing in business.

Many attribute this trend to the tremendous increase in regulations here in the U.S. Congress passed the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, the SEC has passed a number of new regulations, self-regulatory organizations such as the stock exchanges have passed new listing standards, and the PCAOB is regulating auditors.

Maybe we've reached a tipping point. In the past, there have been good arguments that companies listed in the U.S. because of the strong and transparent markets and good governance practices of companies here. Now we find that what was a competitive advantage for the U.S. has become a competitive disadvantage through overregulation.