Sarbanes-Oxley foes find hope Venture capitalists are banking on Pelosi to relax the law MARKETPLACE by Bloomberg 3 Edition

• Published in: International herald tribune
• Main Author: Ari Levy and Jesse Westbrook
• Format: Newspaper Article
• Language: English
• Published: Paris New York Times Company 13.11.2006
• Edition: International edition
• Subjects: Pelosi, Nancy; SAN FRANCISCO
• ISSN: 2474-7149

Revising [Sarbanes-Oxley] "will take bipartisan cooperation," said Robert Grady, a former aide to President George H.W. Bush. Grady oversees U.S. venture investments for the Carlyle Group, a private- equity company in Washington. Grady, who also is chairman of the venture capital association, said that the timing was good because the authors of the law Senator Paul Sarbanes, a Maryland Democrat, and Representative Michael Oxley, an Ohio Republican planned to retire. "This is becoming a crisis," Grady said. "Our capital markets are not functioning well." The venture capitalists have found a sympathetic ear in [Nancy Pelosi], who says she wants to ease compliance rules for small companies to "ensure Sarbanes-Oxley requirements are not overly burdensome." At first blush, softening a law designed to protect investors from company malfeasance seems an odd priority for a lawmaker whose other plans include raising the minimum wage and allowing the government to negotiate lower medication prices for senior citizens. On the other hand, her district's proximity to the start-up culture of Silicon Valley as well as the valley's well- heeled campaign contributors makes the cause more attractive. Taking on Sarbanes-Oxley "would certainly be good politics in that part of the world," said William Mayer, a securities lawyer at Goodwin Procter in Boston. Firms like Kleiner Perkins make their money by investing in start-ups and profiting when the companies sell shares publicly. A survey by PricewaterhouseCoopers found that two-thirds of companies considering IPOs said the costs of complying with Sarbanes-Oxley were a potential barrier.