Not so long ago – about the time international law firms were piling into Germany – there was serious debate about whether London could maintain its lustre as a financial centre, compared with post-Euro-zone Frankfurt or Paris. Fast forward to 2006 and the City has seen off its continental rivals so comprehensively that it is being seriously held up as a contender to displace New York as the world’s capital market.
The primary reason for this abrupt switch is obvious, with tougher reporting requirements under the Sarbanes-Oxley Act not only turning off foreign issuers, but pushing a steady stream of companies to deregister entirely. Recent research from PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) underlines how dramatic the Sarbanes-Oxley effect has been, with the value of European floats last year exceeding the US for the first time ever. At any time, that statistic would be striking but in the same year as the EU Prospectus Directive went live, it is remarkable.
