The financial sector is the talk of the global village. This book highlights that, before asserting that the institutions of the financial sector deserve to be regulated, one should consider that these very institutions are themselves the discreet regulators of the markets where their activity takes place.
Using a variety of theoretical frameworks drawn from the social sciences, the contributions in this edited collection offer a critical perspective on the dominant paradigms used in contemporary financial activities. Through a detailed study of the organisation and functioning of financial intermediaries and institutions, the contributors to this volume analyse ‘finance in the making’, by shedding light on the structuring of banking and financial systems, on their capacity to prescribe action and control, on their modes of regulation and, more generally, on the process of financialisation. Contributions presented in this volume have been written by authors working within the ‘social studies of finance’ tradition, a research programme that emerged twenty years ago, with the aim of addressing a diversity of financial fieldworks and related theoretical questions. This book, therefore, sheds light on different areas that are representative of contemporary financial realities. Specifically, it first studies the work of financial employees: traders, salespeople, investment managers, financial analysts, investment consultants, etc. but also provides an analysis of a range of financial instruments: financial schemes and contracts, financial derivatives, socially responsible investment funds, as well as market rules and regulations. Finally, it puts into perspective the organisations contributing to this financial reality: those developing and selling financial services (retail banks, brokerage houses, asset management firms, private equity firms, etc.), and also those contributing to the regulation of such activities (banking regulators, financial market authorities, credit rating agencies, the State, to name a few). Each text can be read without any specific knowledge of finance; the book is thus addressed to anyone willing to better understand the intricacies of contemporary financial realities.
Financial regulation has entered into a new era, as many foundational economic theories and policies supporting the existing infrastructure have been and are being questioned following the financial crisis. Goodhart et al’s seminal monograph "Financial Regulation: Why, How and Where Now?" (Routledge:1998) took stock of the extent of financial innovation and the maturity of the financial services industry at that time, and mapped out a new regulatory roadmap. This book offers a timely exploration of the "Why, How and Where Now" of financial regulation in the aftermath of the crisis in order to map out the future trajectory of financial regulation in an age where financial stability is being emphasised as a key regulatory objective. The book is split into four sections: the objectives and regulatory landscape of financial regulation; the regulatory regime for investor protection; the regulatory regime for financial institutional safety and soundness; and macro-prudential regulation. The discussion ranges from theoretical and policy perspectives to comprehensive and critical consideration of financial regulation in the specifics. The focus of the book is on the substantive regulation of the UK and the EU, as critical examination is made of the unravelling and the future of financial regulation with comparative insights offered where relevant especially from the US. Running throughout the book is consideration of the relationship between financial regulation, financial stability and the responsibility of various actors in governance. This book offers an important contribution to continuing reflections on the role of financial regulation, market discipline and corporate responsibility in the financial sector, and upon the roles of regulatory authorities, markets and firms in ensuring the financial health and security of all in the future.
In the last twenty years, several periods of turmoil have shaped the financial and economic system. Many regulatory policies, such as Basel III, have been introduced to overcome further crises and scandals. In addition, monetary policy has experienced a transition from conventional to unconventional frameworks in most industrialized and emerging economies. For instance, turning to hedge and diversification of portfolios, commodities markets have attracted increasing interest. More recently, new forms of money have been introduced, such as virtual money. These changes have influenced governance features at both macro and micro levels. Therefore, calls for ethical and sustainable standards in financial and economic spheres have been growing since 2007.Financial and Economic Systems: Transformations and New Challenges provides readers with insights about future transformations and challenges for financial and economic systems. Prominent contributors focus on different aspects, providing a global overview of crisis implications. The book is split into four main areas: Changes in the Real Sphere, covering issues related to yields, risk, unconventional monetary policy, and macroprudential policy; Financial Markets and Macroeconomics, covering uncertainty in finance and economics; CSR, Sustainability and Ethical Finance, highlighting the emergence of corporate social responsibility; and Digitalization, Blockchain and FinTech and the consequences of these transformations on markets and economic systems.
This book examines a key aspect of the post-financial crisis reform package in the EU and UK-the ratcheting up of internal control in banks and financial institutions. The legal framework for internal controls is an important part of prudential regulation, and internal control also constitutes a form of internal gate-keeping for financial firms so that compliance with laws and regulations can be secured. This book argues that the legal framework for internal control, which is a form of meta-regulation, is susceptible to weaknesses, and such weaknesses are critically examined by adopting an interdisciplinary approach. The book discusses whether post-crisis reforms adequately address the weaknesses in regulating internal control and proposes an alternative strategy to enhance the 'governance' effectiveness of internal control.
This book aims to present a picture of one of the world’s leading credit rating agencies. Credited as being the first credit rating agency, Moody’s stands as the epitome of the rating sector and all that it effects. However, outside of internal and non-public histories compiled within the rating agency itself, the story of Moody’s has never been told, until now. However, this is not a historical book. Rather, this book paints a picture of Moody’s on a wider canvas that introduces the concept of rating to you, taking into account the origins of the sector, the competitive battles that formed the modern-day oligopoly, and the characters that have each taken their turn on sculpting the industry that, today, is critical to the modern economy. The book is a story of personable people who provided the market with what it needed, but it is more than that. It is a story of conflict, impact, strategy, and most of all the relationship between big business and modern society. Standing as the gatekeeper to the capital markets that form the core of modern society, Moody’s represents the very best of what the marketplace can produce, but also the very worst. This story takes in economic crises in the antebellum US, the Panics of the early 1900s, the Wall Street Crash and the Great Depression and, of course, the Global Financial Crisis. It does this because, at the heart of each one was a member of the rating industry or the reporting industry that preceded it. Associated with almost any financial scandal you may care to remember the credit rating agencies, in their often-uncomfortable role as gatekeepers, have their fingerprints on most financial scandals and calamities. This book tells the story of the industry’s founding member.
Corporate governance in financial institutions has come under the spotlight since the banking crisis in the UK in 2008-9. In many respects, the banking business raises unique problems for corporate governance that are not found in other corporate secto
This book brings together thought leadership from academia and leading figures in asset management in key global jurisdictions, to pool together insights regarding the transformative visions and challenges for modern investment management, as well as best practices that realise the policy objectives in regulation and soft law. The world of investment management is being challenged by new legal, regulatory and soft law developments to demonstrate that their practices cohere with the long-term needs of the saving population as well as public interest needs in financing global sustainability and social development. The chapters in this book uniquely bring together the views of academia and practice on the key developments that can transform the law and practice of investment management, including the EU's new sustainable finance reform package, the UK Stewardship Code 2020, and developments in the US regarding the fit between fiduciary law for investment management and modern sustainability concerns. The book brings together the best of both worlds–critical thoughtful perspectives from academia and qualitative insight from the investment management industry. It will be of interest to researchers in law, investment management, business and management, practitioners in the investment management industry and their legal advisers, and policy-makers in the EU, UK and beyond who are grappling with the appropriate governance paradigms for bringing about more sustainable outcomes globally.
This book examines the transgressions of the credit rating agencies before, during and after the recent financial crisis. It proposes that by restricting the agencies’ ability to offer ancillary services there stands the opportunity to limit, in an achievable and practical manner, the potentially negative effect that the Big Three rating agencies – Standard & Poor’s, Moody’s and Fitch – may have upon the financial sector and society moreover. The book contains an extensive and in-depth discussion about how the agencies ascended to their current position, why they were able to do so and ultimately their behaviour once their position was cemented. This work offers a new framework for the reader to follow, suggesting that investors, issuers and the state have a ‘desired’ version of the agencies in their thinking and operate upon that basis when, in fact, those imagined agencies do not exist, as demonstrated by the ‘actual’ conduct of the agencies. The book primarily aims to uncover this divergence and reveal the ‘real’ credit rating agencies, and then on that basis propose a real and potentially achievable reform to limit the negative effects that result from poor performance in this Industry. It addresses the topics with regard to financial regulation and the financial crisis, and will be of interest to legal scholars interested in the intersection between business and he law as well as researchers, academics, policymakers, industry and professional associations and students in the fields of corporate law, banking and finance law, financial regulation, corporate governance and corporate finance.