Escape from New York

摘要

There are signs that UK and international companies are checking out of New York and into London as their preferred market. Companies that have delisted from Nasdaq or the New York Stock Exchange for reasons of Sarbanes-Oxley costs outweighing benefits include Rank Group and Cable and Wireless. Others have been put off listing, such as German car giant Porsche. It isn't just Sarbox that is rubbing the shine off the appeal of the US capital markets, but the general perception that it's a tough, perhaps unfairly tough, place to do business. Consider the long jail sentences that can be handed out to executives. British accountant Nigel Potter, the former chief executive of gambling firm Wembley, is serving three years for corruption in a high-security Pennsylvania jail. The nationalist reaction to the acquisition of P&O by Dubai Ports World has also won the US few friends in foreign companies.