London Calling

by StockJockey

Monday, March 26, 2007 - 9:40 am

It is unlikely that we have heard the end of the debate over draconian regulatory issues here in the U.S. Indeed, from where we sit it appears Mayor Bloomberg and industry bigwigs have regulators on their heels as they continue to push for a more laissez-faire approach.

It has been nearly a year since the rhetoric began to heat up:

...a Nasdaq weakened by Sarbanes-Oxley regulations is something that worries the National Venture Capital Association (NVCA).

The organization launched a “U.S. Competitive Initiative” during its annual meeting in San Jose this week. As part of a larger agenda, the group hopes to lessen the regulatory burden for smaller companies going public.

"There's a lot of good stuff in Sarbanes-Oxley about corporate governance, but they went overboard. I think Sarbanes Oxley was thrown together extremely quickly without thinking about the consequences," said Ted Schlein, a managing partner with the Menlo Park venture capital company Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers. SF Chronicle/April 2006

The Alternative Investment Market , or AIM, has attracted much attention given that its listing requirements that are so lax it is possible blogs might begin to apply for listings.

Still, London has to be given credit for outmaneuvering the Yankee’s on many fronts. The salarymen manning New York’s trading desks might not care, but compensation matters are sure to wake them up.

London might have lousy weather and food, but the good folks in the City are outearning their New York rivals in a big way. Sure, London might be have a higher cost of living, but these trends will be interesting to follow:

London traders are raking in salaries and bonuses as much as 50 percent higher than their counterparts in the U.S., according to a study by Napier Scott Executive Search Ltd.

U.K. traders’ earnings increased as much as 22 percent, while U.S. salaries and bonuses rose as much as 15 percent last year, according to the survey published by the London recruitment firm today. Bloomberg

Sure, your bonus check just cleared the bank, but it might be time to start whining about your pay again.
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