NEW YORK, May 5: NYSE Euronext Chief Executive John Thain on Friday said New York remains the world’s leading home of initial public offerings, but he warned US regulation and legal costs remain a deterrent to foreign companies.

So far this year, NYSE Euronext raised $26 billion in IPO proceeds, compared with $13 billion on the London Stock Exchange and $11 billion in Hong Kong, Thain said at a Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association conference.

Last year, New York Stock Exchange slipped behind its fast-growing British and Asian rivals, when it hosted $40 billion worth of IPOs. Hong Kong, where a number of large Chinese companies went public, listed $47 billion of new shares, while the LSE listed $44 billion worth.

Thain noted NYSE and Euronext, if combined, last year hosted $62 billion of new stock issues.

“While there are still reasons to be concerned, we’re not losing out to London yet,” Thain said. “We still raise more capital here than anywhere else.” Earlier in the conference, Nasdaq Stock Market Inc. CEO Robert Greifeld observed that in the first quarter 12 international IPOs listed on the Nasdaq, including six Chinese companies.

Thain is among the most vocal of business leaders who warn that regulation and litigation generate costs that make the US less attractive for foreign companies considering an IPO.

On the sidelines, Thain again asserted the US needs legal reforms, changes to Sarbanes-Oxley corporate governance rules and a more open mind about foreign accounting standards.

“We still have to be concern about the competitive position of the United States, because there is no question there are a significant number of international IPOs that historically would have come to the US that did not,” because of these concerns, Thain said.

Thain called for other changes, including letting foreign companies list in the US without making them register their securities here.—Reuters