Are rising costs and regulations detering public equity sales?

Short Version: more firms are choosing to sell public equity in Europe than in US. Is it because of increased regulations? Maybe. No doubt they play a role.

Bloomberg.com: Exclusive:

"Fees in Europe range from 1 percent ...5.4 percent... Underwriting fees for more than half of the deals in Europe are undisclosed...By comparison, 71 of the 111 initial stock sales on U.S. exchanges this year paid commissions of 7 percent or more."

and later:

" `The fact that the number of IPOs here is limited, despite the well-being of the economy, suggests there is some friction in the capital market,'' said Luigi Zingales, a finance professor at the University of Chicago Graduate School of Business"