For a Wall Street guy, he sounds pretty outspoken:

Thain also cited competition between state and federal regulators as another reason why some companies list their shares abroad and sounded relieved that New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer was moving into the governor's mansion.

"We really don't need all of our different regulators trying to figure out who is the toughest cop," he said.

Despite his confidence that Sarbanes-Oxley relief is on the way, Thain was less optimistic that the new Democratic-controlled Congress would put a stop to what he sees as a flood of frivolous shareholder lawsuits against U.S. companies.

"Class-action lawsuits are a tax on all companies and ultimately consumers who do business in the United States," Thain said.