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Since the days of America’s first Treasury secretary, Alexander Hamilton, New York’s financial markets have driven and sustained the nation’s economy. And for the last century, companies worldwide that sought to raise capital overwhelmingly came to the United States.

Sadly, and distressingly, that era may be coming to an end, as companies looking for money on the public markets are increasingly going to Europe or Asia. In 2005, initial public offerings of stock in Europe surpassed those in America — in both number and dollar volume. Even as the American IPO market improved in 2006, that trend accelerated: According to PricewaterhouseCoopers, there were 651 IPOs in Europe last year, versus 224 in the U.S., and the European offerings raised almost $40 billion more dollars. China’s markets, with fewer IPOs, raised 30 percent more capital than those in the United States.

WashingtonPost.com: Are U.S. IPOs DOA?

The number of venture-backed initial public offerings awaiting their stock market debut more than doubled at the start of 2007 with a tech filing from Omneon Video Networks marking a late-entry addition to the roster.

Hailing largely from the tech sector, the ranks of venture-backed IPOs swelled to 36 as of Tuesday, up from 16 in the year-ago period, but down from 51 at the start of the busy fourth quarter of 2006, according to a survey by the National Venture Capital Association and Thomson Financial.

Mark Heesen, president of the National Venture Capital Association, said an overhaul of the Sarbanes-Oxley law could help small companies eying IPOs.

“There is the potential to see measurable Sarbanes-Oxley relief for smaller public companies in 2007, which would be a welcome boost for the U.S. IPO market,” Heeson said. “In absence of this reform, however, venture capitalists will look at other liquidity paths — foreign exchanges or sale to financial intermediaries — as viable exit alternatives in the coming year.”

Marketwatch: Venture-backed IPOs perking up