The globalization of banking and financial markets : the challenge for european regulators
By: MCKENZIE, George
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Contributor(s): KHALIDI, Manzoor.
Material type: 
ArticlePublisher: London : Routledge, December 1996Journal of European Public Policy 3, 4, p. 629-646Abstract: The objective of this article is to examine recent trends in regulatory philosophy that are occurring as a result of the globalization of banking and financial market activities facilitated by the electronic revolution. By compressing both time and space, this revolution is threatening the supremacy of the nation state as the basis for ordering our economic, political and social lives. In the financial services sector, the result is an increasing transfer of disciplinary functions to the markets themselves. The shift of emphasis is away from the regulation of markets by individual nation states to the provision of sufficient information to enable customers of financial institutions to create the incentives for these institutions to act in a safe and sound manner. This trend is being supported by many regulators recognizing their inability to keep pace with financial innovations and the transient and uncertain nature of market trends. The philosophy underlying the EU Deposit Guarantee Directive is such as to expose depositors to the risks of bank insolvency. Future modifications to the EU Capital Adequacy Directive will require investment firms to publish information about their risk exposures and management practices so as to enable customers to assess the credit-worthiness of these institutions. However, as global regulatory functions degenerate, there is an increased need for global harmonization of auditing procedures and reporting standards.
The objective of this article is to examine recent trends in regulatory philosophy that are occurring as a result of the globalization of banking and financial market activities facilitated by the electronic revolution. By compressing both time and space, this revolution is threatening the supremacy of the nation state as the basis for ordering our economic, political and social lives. In the financial services sector, the result is an increasing transfer of disciplinary functions to the markets themselves. The shift of emphasis is away from the regulation of markets by individual nation states to the provision of sufficient information to enable customers of financial institutions to create the incentives for these institutions to act in a safe and sound manner. This trend is being supported by many regulators recognizing their inability to keep pace with financial innovations and the transient and uncertain nature of market trends. The philosophy underlying the EU Deposit Guarantee Directive is such as to expose depositors to the risks of bank insolvency. Future modifications to the EU Capital Adequacy Directive will require investment firms to publish information about their risk exposures and management practices so as to enable customers to assess the credit-worthiness of these institutions. However, as global regulatory functions degenerate, there is an increased need for global harmonization of auditing procedures and reporting standards.
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