They'd Rather Go Public Outside the U.S. Because of Sarbanes-Oxley

Scripps-Howard reports:

A growing number of U.S. companies, leery of Wall Street in the age of Sarbanes-Oxley regulations, are turning to a relatively unknown market in London to go public.

It's called the Alternative Investment Market, or AIM, and last year 19 companies from the United States floated shares on the market. Run by the London Stock Exchange, the market now boasts 37 listed U.S. companies.

AIM offers a less-regulated marketplace with lower costs than the Nasdaq Stock Market. For instance, AIM says it charges $7,319 for its admission fee and yearly fee. Nasdaq, according to the London Stock Exchange, charges companies a minimum of $100,000 for admission, along with yearly fees of $25,000 to $75,000.

"There are fewer opportunities for (venture capital-backed) companies to go public on Nasdaq than six, seven years ago," said David Berkowitz, senior vice president for Vancouver's Ventures West, which has helped two North American companies list in London. "AIM is very small-company friendly and a lot easier to go public on. It also gives access to a whole new set of investors."

The alternate market was started in 1995 but didn't really attract a large number of companies until the past few years. The number of companies on AIM has doubled in two years, with international companies growing even faster. The total market value for AIM companies has tripled during the same time. By the end of March, 1,473 companies with a total market value of $129 billion were listed.

Capital flows to where is can get the best return.Sarbanes-Oxley is anti-business, unless the law is repealed expect more of this.The fact that the Republican Congress and a President Bush would sign on to a law like this suggest how anti-business the Republican Party really is.