Greenspan Calls Sarbanes Oxley a "Nightmare"

From today's Investor's Business Daily, an editorial about Sarbanes-Oxley, specifically about how former Fed chair Greenspan now has second thoughts about a bill he once supported, but now calls a "nightmare."

According to IBD, it's "the arrogance of Washington that gave birth to the Sarbanes-Oxley monster, " which:

• Requires small companies to spend an average $3 million a year and big companies an average $8 million to comply with its rules.

• Is responsible for a $1.5 trillion reduction in value in the U.S. stock market, according to an American Enterprise Institute study.

• Creates conditions so demanding that only one of the top 10 overseas IPOs was held in the U.S. last year.

• Prompted European companies to withdraw from U.S. exchanges because of the heavy financial burden of compliance.