Avoiding Sarbox: the foreign IPO solution

You're no doubt aware that globalization fever has gripped the New York Stock Exchange and the Nasdaq, which have well-reported designs on Euronext and the London Stock Exchange, respectively. Supposing these these deals go through, would all this amount to an opportunity for companies to avoid SOX by going public in Europe? It makes sense, especially for small- and medium-sized companies, who likely will not be getting a SOX break after all. You could also imagine private equity firms taking even large companies private, fixing them up and taking them public again in Europe or even Asia. A recent survey by Pricewaterhouse-Coopers found that 67 percent of executives recently listed Sarbanes-Oxley as a barrier to an IPO. Private equity firms, not to mention their investment bankers, are more comfortable than ever on foreign terrain. At some point, you might be asked to at least ponder the economics of such a move.

> Here's an interesting article from Forbes.