The debate about whether SOX is driving companies away from the US market, and whether more are listing overseas because of SOX-related costs is about to move into over-drive. But the big shift will have nothing to do with Sarbanes-Oxley.
The news is that Hong Kong is overtaking New York and London as the world's biggest market for initial public offerings, reports the International Herald Tribune.
And one of the big drivers will be China's largest bank, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, listing simultaneously on the Hong Kong and Shanghai exchanges and raising an expected $22 billion
This surpasses the previous record holder, NTT Mobile Communications of Japan in 1998 which was floated for $18.4 billion. And that was during the tech-stock boom.
It's also a big shift for China. It's not only a global first in terms of size but it's also the first time there will be a simultaneous float on the two exchanges. And it highlights the development of the country's banking sector which is the underbelly of China's breakneck growth. It's also the tripwire given China's inability to deal with the official corruption that has come with the economic boom.
But what's important here is that the US stock market is being eclipsed by the forces of globalisation, not the costs of Sarbanes-Oxley. It's about the privatisation of a state-owned company with the Chinese Government selling off 14.8 per cent of the bank's capital. The choice of jurisdiction should come as no surprise.
And it's only going to get worse. New York and London have become fat and complacent and are likely to be replaced as financial hubs, writes Matthew Lynn at Bloomberg.
Zurich or Dublin could take up the challenge. Even eastern markets like Riga, Prague or Budapest looking for some niche business might create some problems.
The lesson for America: it's a big world out there, get used to it.
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