“Although the current financial crisis has distorted some traditional measures, there is little question that the competitive position of U.S. capital markets continues to deteriorate.”

The Committee has completed a survey regarding the explosive growth in the use by foreign issuers of the private Rule 144A equity market in the Unites States.

“Notwithstanding the extraordinary market conditions that skewed some usually reliable measures of competitiveness, significant further deterioration in U.S. public equity market competitiveness clearly stands out.”