WASHINGTON, DC – Forum President Rob Nichols issued the following statement on Secretary Paulson’s Speech this morning on Treasury’s Regulatory Reform Blueprint:

“As Congress and the Administration explore comprehensive reforms to the U.S. regulatory architecture, we have an important opportunity to enhance America’s competitiveness in the global economy. We look forward to reviewing carefully the ideas Secretary Paulson has proposed in the Treasury Regulatory Reform Blueprint and applaud his focus on the development of a 21st century financial supervisory framework that is efficient, flexible, and responsive to the activities and innovations of the world's most sophisticated and dynamic capital marketplace.

“Lawmakers and the Administration can and should pursue long-term initiatives to improve and rationalize the tangled U.S. regulatory architecture on parallel tracks with short-term responses to the current problems in credit markets. By mitigating needless duplication, regulatory arbitrage, inefficiency, and waste, a more efficient regulatory architecture will improve safeguards against future crisis while helping to better equip U.S. capital markets to succeed in an increasingly competitive global economy.

“The Forum’s 2007 Global Capital Markets Survey found that our regulatory patchwork of overlapping jurisdictions and varying responsibilities is a major deterrent to companies considering doing business in the U.S. and presents a real threat to the competitiveness of the U.S. capital markets. The survey, which interviewed senior executives at 334 companies who have made decisions about listing shares on a public exchange in the last five years, found that thirty percent of public companies interviewed who considered listing on a U.S. capital market but chose an overseas exchange instead cited excessive regulation as the primary reason.

“These are complex issues that deserve a careful and thoughtful approach mindful of the delicate balance between the short-term responses aimed at addressing today’s crisis and their potential consequences for the competitiveness of the U.S. economy in the long-term. As Senator Charles Schumer said recently, as we explore reform ideas, we must not ‘snuff out entrepreneurialism.’ We wholeheartedly agree. We look forward to working with Senator Schumer, Secretary Paulson. as well as Senate Banking Committee Chairman Christopher Dodd, House Financial Services Committee Chairman Barney Frank, and other leaders on this important issue.

“As we develop new reform proposals, we cannot lose sight of the fact that a strong and competitive financial services sector is at the heart of the American economy’s strength and well-being, providing the capital that is the lifeblood of economic activity, and directly employing millions of people. A world-class, 21st century supervisory framework will help America’s financial services sector remain the most competitive capital marketplace in the world.”