Paul Sarbanes and Michael Oxley, renowned authors of the 2002 Sarbanes-Oxley corporate governance reform legislation, have become America’s favourite whipping boys for the emigration of foreign equity listings from New York to London. But it was the earlier efforts of another congressman, one who now has far more influence over the competitiveness of the US capital markets, which in fact sparked the exodus by deliberately mixing domestic market regulation with foreign policy.

In 1999, two commissions reported to Congress on Chinese military links to commercial and financial activities in the US. The reports grabbed headlines with their focus on the purported role of the US capital markets in financing Chinese weapons development and proliferation. The first of these commissions was chaired by congressman Christopher Cox, now chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission.