NY SOCKS IT TO SOX! BIG APPLE MOVES TO STAY ON TOP

City Hall last week continued its fight to amend certain parts of the innovation-killing Sarbanes-Oxley Act, hiring a consultant to help it win back some of the lucrative IPO business - and reaffirm New York City's place as the financial capital of the world.

The hiring of the consultant comes after a disastrous 2005, which saw nine of the 10 largest IPOs list their shares on overseas exchanges - a trend many see as an attempt by the companies to avoid the tough-as-nails regulatory environment in the U.S.

As the gold-standard New York Stock Exchange loses to international rivals, the Big Apple takes a tremendous tax wallop - the financial-services industry accounts for 10,000 jobs and 20 percent of the tax revenue, or $6.5 billion, collected by the city last year.

Passed by Congress in 2002 in the wake of the WorldCom and Enron corporate frauds, Sarbanes-Oxley is now seen by many in the business world as too restrictive, too stifling and anti-competitive in a global business world.

"Certain parts of [Sar- banes-Oxley] are not helpful to the securities industry in New York or the United States," Deputy Mayor Dan Doctoroff told The Post last week.

He is not alone. Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson has suggested that part of Sarbanes-Oxley, specifically section 404, may be putting the U.S. at a disadvantage.

"I think the pendulum may have swung too far," he noted.

Duh! No shit, Sherlock.

http://www.nypost.com/business/battle_ready_business_david_freedlander.htm