U.S. Chamber Welcomes New York City Report on Improving U.S. Capital Markets

Cites Growing Consensus on Need to Bolster Competitiveness of Capital Markets

WASHINGTON, D.C.-U.S. Chamber of Commerce President and CEO Tom Donohue issued the following statement on the report commissioned by the City of New York on improving the efficiency and accessibility of U.S. capital markets:

"The Bloomberg-Schumer report underscores the growing consensus on the need to bolster the competitiveness of U.S. capital markets. Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Sen. Charles Schumer have shined a bright light on the erosion of the competitiveness of our capital markets. We look forward to reviewing their thoughts on how to improve the regulatory, litigation, and enforcement structure so we don't drive capital markets offshore.

"Other recent efforts have also made a valuable contribution to the debate on the proper legal and regulatory framework needed to make our capital markets the envy of the world. In March, the independent, bipartisan Commission established by the Chamber-The Commission on the Regulation of U.S. Capital Markets in the 21st Century-will issue its own report. It is carefully weighing all of these efforts, including the McKinsey paper, along with the views of many others it has collected over the past year.

"The end of our commission will mark the beginning of a concerted, aggressive, long-term program by the Chamber employing significant resources. Our goal is clear: the most fair, efficient, transparent, and attractive capital markets system in the world. To achieve that, we'll need to make legislative, legal, and regulatory changes, including: modernizing the 70-year old regulatory framework governing our markets; eliminating duplicative and overlapping layers of regulation and enforcement that undermine efficiency; harmonizing our rules with our global trading partners; and preventing abuses of private securities litigation where individual shareholders lose and lawyers win."

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce is the world's largest business federation representing more than three million businesses and organizations of every size, sector, and region.

www.uschamber.com

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07-15