Duncan Niederauer, the chief executive officer of NYSE Euronext, warned Tuesday that the complex U.S. regulatory structure is making the country less competitive.
He also supported a Treasury Department plan to streamline the rulemaking process.
"The Treasury blueprint was excellent," Mr. Niederauer said in a speech at the National Press Club. "There were a lot of good ideas in there. At a minimum, thinking of ways to modernize our regulatory structure and really weighing principles versus rules" is a good thing.
He defended the plan's principles-based approach to regulation, as opposed to laying out specific rules. "It would be a shame if 'principles-based' were interpreted by some in this town as a euphemism for deregulation or underregulation. Please don't let that happen."
Among other things, the Treasury plan unveiled in March would combine the Office of Thrift Supervision with the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency and establish the Federal Reserve Board as a systemic risk regulator. The plan is unlikely to be enacted this year but could receive attention from the next administration.
