With the continued maturation of global markets and investors increasingly able to access venues around the world, foreign companies may no longer consider it imperative to list in the U.S. As Duncan Niederauer, chief executive of NYSE Euronext, told the Wall Street Journal in a recent interview, "A lot of the other markets have gotten much more developed. Their companies are saying, Maybe I don't have to go to the U.S.'" On April 10, Niederauer spoke at length about rectifying an international "crisis in confidence" in the U.S. markets rooted in the recent economic decline. Following Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson in addressing a Council of Institutional Investors meeting in Washington, D.C., Niederauer noted that one of the ways the U.S. could restore confidence in its capital markets is by following through on some of the recommendations in Treasury's blueprint for modernizing the regulatory structure. "I think we are at a moment now where the country probably needs something like" the streamlining of processes outlined in Treasury's plan. "A lot of that is going to take a long time to accomplish," he added. "But some of the stuff we can try to accomplish in the short term." An excerpt of his speech follows.
I get asked quite frequently, "Why do we think a lot of the European companies that historically listed in the United States are delisting their American depositary receipt program?" A lot of people are concerned that it is all about U.S. competitiveness. The U.S. regulatory framework is quite daunting to a number of non-U.S. companies. I actually think things like Sarbanes Oxley, for those companies, might be a convenient excuse, but it's really not at the root of the issue. Other issues may have a lot to do with our regulatory landscape; I don't think this one does.
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