The Committee on Capital Markets Regulation, announced Tuesday, will "conduct a major study of how to improve the competitiveness of the U.S. public capital markets," with a major emphasis on Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002. Many business leaders blame SOX for hindering U.S. competitiveness.

Other issues on the agenda are: liability issues affecting public companies, auditors and directors; regulatory processes; and shareholder rights.

Co-chaired by former White House economic adviser Glenn Hubbard and former Goldman Sachs President John Thornton, the coalition of more than two dozen people also includes accounting firm chiefs Samuel DiPiazza, CEO of PricewaterhouseCoopers, and William Parrett, CEO of Deloitte.

The committee is directed by Hal S. Scott, professor and director of International Financial Systems at Harvard Law School. In a release, Scott said, "We are witnessing a crucial moment in economic history  -- the movement of U.S. capital markets abroad, and the growth of private  markets at the expense of public ones. The United States needs to adopt a more principled and risk-based approach to regulation."

The coalition plans to issue a report with recommendations to key policy makers for specific changes in regulation and legislation by the end of November, titled "Capital Markets Regulation and Its Effects on U.S. Competitiveness."

U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson -- a former Goldman Sachs chief -- praised the coalition. "This issue is important to the future of the American economy and a priority for me. I look forward to reviewing their findings and ideas," said Paulson.