To both cheers and jeers from the predictable constituencies... :The Paulson Group" is a 20 some odd member committee convened by Treasury Secretary, Hank Paulson to kvetch on the subject of current market regulation and its effect on competitiveness. Not shockingly, reforms were urged on a variety of fronts.

While changes to SarBox, tort reform and consolidation of overlapping regulatory jurisdictions all show up in the Paulson group's recs, the dramatic drop in IPOs brought in the U.S. versus other markets seems to be the most repeated cause for concern. In 2000 half of all dollars worldwide raised in IPOs were doneso on U.S. exchanges. In 2005, that number was down to 5% (although, frankly many factors are at work in this shift).

The question becomes, what, if any of these suggested deregulatory measures will gain traction. In all 32 separate recommendations were made by the star-studded bipartisan group (but one notably absent any former regulators). However, the suggestions are being put to a very different congress than would have received them had the recent elections turned out differently.

-- MDT