Schumer Can Save New York

The 2002 Sarbanes-Oxley Act is rendering New York’s financial service sector second-class. Informally known as SOX, the financial regulation mandates that public companies comply with strict accounting rules, hoping that it will reduce the occurrence of human fraud. As if.Most people agree that the economically destructive act begs for reform, and plenty of evidence exists to buttress this claim, such as the drop in global initial public offerings on our exchanges, the number of businesses moving abroad in search of freer markets, and the decrease in projected tax revenue. New York City, being the financial capital of the world, is undoubtedly hit hardest. Who will come to the city’s rescue?All eyes are on New York’s senior senator, Charles Schumer. Think about it: Mr. Schumer, along with Mayor Bloomberg, commissioned a McKinsey & Co. report, which revealed that, in just 10 short years, the Big Apple will be bereft of its bread and butter, the coveted finance industry. The report blamed federal regulators and overzealous, town-car chasing lawyers and warned that, if they continue down their current warpath, London and Hong Kong will reign supreme.Moreover, Mr. Schumer loomed large in the last election as the successful steward of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, and has more than a few chits to cash in with members of his party. Some don’t even need convincing, like House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Rep. Greg Meeks of New York, and Rep. Anthony Weiner of New York, all of whom at one time or another criticized SOX regulations.Even Senator Kerry plans to reintroduce his bill that proposes to provide federal assistance to small businesses snowed under from Sox. Throwing more government money at them is not the right idea, but it is a clear concession that Sox is crippling our companies.Republicans, meanwhile, have made SOX reform a rallying cry for keeping America competitive. Reps. Tom Feeney of Florida, Jeff Flake of Arizona, Vito Fossella of New York, Scott Garrett of New Jersey, and Mark Kirk of Illinois, have introduced or plan to introduce House bills that would relax SOX, while Senator DeMint last year sponsored the Senate version of the House’s Compete Act to tackle the law. It’s clear that Senator Schumer has bipartisan backing.And, with a surfeit of studies and suggestions — from the Bloomberg-Schumer report, the Committee on Capital Markets Regulation, think tanks like American Enterprise Institute, and nonprofits like the Partnership for New York City — there is no shortage of proposals. Mr. Schumer has plenty of legislative recommendations from which to choose, ranging from making SOX completely optional to simply and statutorily defining the act’s terms.There is an abundance of data on which to build a strong case for SOX reform; we can even approximate the consequences of doing nothing. The Bloomberg-Schumer report notes that the financial service industry accounts for a total of 8% of America’s gross domestic product and allows for more than 5% of all jobs, and warns that maintaining the regulatory status quo could cause a plunge in revenue upwards of $30 billion for the country and losses of as many as 60,000 jobs.The only missing ingredient for full-fledged SOX restructuring is a legislator ready to carry the torch. What scares away potential champions is taking up a cause that could lead to political suicide — being deemed a defender of Enron and the enemy of investors, instead of a savior of the economy. It’s a fine tightrope to walk. But the damage that is occurring now in our financial markets could have never been caused by an Enron. Instead, they are all results of regulatory overload.Mr. Schumer should champion this effort. He recognizes that our ability to compete in the globalized, borderless economic world is compromised by unnecessary, cumbersome regulation. He has spoken out against SOX in Washington and on Wall Street. He is already building the bridges between business and politics, and Republicans and Democrats, which is necessary for legislative success.America is capable of continuing its financial supremacy without government handicapping. There are no other capital markets in the world that are stronger, deeper, more liquid, and provide greater access to investor capital than America’s. Though fees are higher, most public companies are mindful of the old adage ‘you get what you pay for’ and thus have always been willing to pay for what they got from the New York Stock Exchange and Nasdaq.That is, until now. The only thing the high fees are buying them is a whole bunch of red tape. Mr. Schumer has shown that he understands that. In this area, the best governmental regulation would be the least. Mr. Schumer should do what he does best, which is to bring the much-needed press spotlight to an issue whose day has come. It is the only logical next step.Mr. DeSena is a policy analyst at the Free Enterprise Fund. He can be reached at mdesena@freeenterprisefund.org.

Schumer Can Save New York

Schumer Can Save New York

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