NYC officials hire McKinsey to explore exchange woes

We've noted before that New York City officials are more than chagrined about the perceived flow of underwriting business to London. The conventional wisdom holds that Sarbanes Oxley is the main culprit. But the true reasons are likely varied and much more complex. Nodding to that notion, NYC officials have hired McKinsey & Company to explore the situation for $600,000. The report is due to the Economic Development Corporation in two months. It's unclear what the city can really do. I would expect a lot of discussion about Sarbox but also about the fee structure of Wall Street's top banks and perhaps even the activity of LBO firms. You can't blame the city; its vitality depends in large part on Wall Street's underwriting activity, though no one thinks this is any kind of crisis. 

For more on the McKinsey hiring:
- Here's a New York Post article 
- London's anti-Sarbox exchange boom. Article