Regulating securities markets - Richard S. Dale

Risk and Regulation in Global Securities Markets Richard Dale Global financial markets are undergoing tumultuous change. New products, technologies and increased cross–border financial activity now offer today’s lenders, borrowers, investors and speculators a highly efficient means for financial transactions. However, these mechanisms can become a channel for transmitting financial shocks around the world with devastating speed and power: hence the growing importance of international regulatory co–ordination. Risk and Regulation in Global Securities Markets focuses on the regulation of securities business, but as the collapse of Barings demonstrated, securities and banking activities have become inextricably linked. The author identifies the key characteristics of the new global financial markets, and compares contrasting approaches to the regulation of investment firms in the major financial centres in Europe, Japan and the US. He considers the regulatory challenge posed by the explosion in derivatives trading, and describes the various international regulatory initiatives being implemented by the European Union, Basle Committee on Banking Supervision and the International Organization of Securities Commissions. The main focus throughout is on capital adequacy, but the study also addresses potential competitive distortions, as between banks, securities firms and financial institutions from different countries. Risk and Regulation in Global Securities Markets will be of interest to regulators, traders, brokers, institutional investors and bankers.