Despite abundant literature on transaction costs, there is little to no in-depth analysis regarding what the transaction is or how it works. Drawing on both Old and New Institutional Economics and on a variety of interdisciplinary sources, this monograph traces the history of the meaning of transaction in institutional economics, mapping its topicality and use over time. This manuscript treats the idea of 'transaction' as a construct with legal, competitive and political dimensions, and connects different approaches within institutional economics. The book covers the contributions of key thinkers from different schools, including (in alphabetical order) Ronald H. Coase, John R. Commons, Robert Lee Hale, Oliver Hart, Mancur Olson, Thorstein Veblen and Olver E. Williamson. This book will be of interest to advanced students and researchers of institutional economics, law and economics, and economics, and the history of economic thought.

Over the last ten years mobile payment systems have revolutionised banking in some countries in Africa. In Kenya the introduction of M-Pesa, a new financial services model, has transformed the banking and financial services industry. Giving the unbanked majority access to the financial services market it has attracted over 18 million subscribers which is remarkable given that fewer than 4 million people in Kenya have bank accounts. This book addresses the legal and regulatory issues arising out of the introduction of M-Pesa in Kenya and its drive towards financial inclusion. It considers the interaction between regulation and technological innovation with a particular focus on the regulatory tools, institutional arrangements and government decisional processes through the examination as a whole of its regulatory capacity. This is done with a view to understanding the regulatory capacity of Kenya in addressing the vulnerabilities presented by technological innovation in the financial industry for consumers after financial inclusion. It also examines the way that mobile payments have been regulated by criticising the piecemeal approach that the Central Bank of Kenya has taken in addressing the legal and regulatory issues presented by mobile payments. The book argues there are significant gaps in the regulatory regime of mobile banking in Kenya.

The VAT Carousel Fraud has seriously undermined the financial integrity of the European Union Emissions Trading Scheme (EU ETS). This timely book is the first to give an overview of fraud in the carbon market. Written by a former broker, it presents unique material on the carbon fraud mechanics and analyses the missing trader fraud (VAT fraud) on European carbon allowances markets with a focus on financial and organised crime issues. Fraud and Carbon Markets: The Carbon Connection assesses the weaknesses of the Kyoto Protocol and environmental markets, using statistics as a forensic tool on the capital markets. It describes specific cases, the court investigations and various mechanisms. It addresses issues of money laundering and international fraud on capital markets, such as stock manipulation, by exploring the financial mechanisms of the fraud, their impact on the market behaviour and the consequences on their econometric features. Researchers and students in climate change policy, environmental finance, financial law, organised crime, forensic statistics, financial regulation and risk management as well as financial regulators and policy makers will find this book of great interest.

The Economics of Crime presents a review of economic scholarly research in the ever-growing field of crime and punishment. Without using graphs or mathematical equations, Winter combines theory and empirical evidence relating to public policy concerns over a wide range of controversial topics such as the death penalty, racial bias in the criminal justice system, gun control, the war on drugs, fines versus imprisonment, policing tactics, and shaming punishments. In addition to offering an updated and expanded coverage of these, and other topics, this second edition is more international in scope, with the inclusion of studies that use data from Italy, Australia, the U.K., Singapore, Brazil, and others. Also included is a brand-new chapter on the application of behavioral economics to crime and punishment, providing readers with a succinct introduction to this modern and increasingly important approach to economic issues. By requiring no previous knowledge of economics, this book continues to be the perfect choice for students new to the study of economics and public policy, whether it is in the discipline of economics, political science, criminology, law, or any other field that is concerned with issues in crime and punishment. Furthermore, due to its accessibility, The Economics of Crime can be enjoyed by anyone who follows current public policy debate over some of society's most contentious issues.

Law and economics is the field of study devoted to understanding laws and legal institutions using the tools of economic theory. This growing subject has become a mainstream area of study in both law schools and economics departments and this book explores the "law and economics" approach to some of the most interesting questions, issues, and topics in law, order, and justice. Contemporary Issues in Law and Economics considers what economists call the "positive" analysis of the law - that is, using economic theory to explain the nature of the law as it actually exists. As part of this approach the author examines questions such as, what is the economic basis for the predominance of negligence rules in tort law? And, what is the explanation for the illegality of blackmail? Furthermore, another set of questions arises where the law seems to depart from the prescriptions of economic theory, and these issues are also examined in this volume. For example, the deeply rooted norm of proportionality between punishments and crimes, and the use of escalating penalties for repeat offenders, are both explored. With self-contained chapters written in a non-technical style, this book offers a rigorous discussion of the above themes while remaining accessible to those without formal legal or economic training. It offers the ideal introduction to the field of law and economics while also providing a basis for students in more advanced courses.

Scores of lawsuits have pushed retirement plan sponsors to shorter, easier-to-navigate menus, but - as Ian Ayres and Quinn Curtis argue in this work - we've only scratched the surface of retirement plan design. Using participant-level plan data and straightforward tests, Ayres and Curtis show how plan sponsors can monitor plans for likely allocation mistakes and adapt menus to encourage success. Beginning with an overview of the problem of high costs and the first empirical evidence on retirement plan fee lawsuits, they offer an overview of the current plan landscape. They then show, based on reforms to a real plan, how streamlining menus, eliminating pitfalls, and adopting static and dynamic limits on participant allocations to certain risky assets or 'guardrails' can reduce mistakes and lead to better retirement outcomes. Focusing on plausible, easy-to-implement interventions, Retirement Guardrails shows that fiduciaries need not be limited to screening out funds but can design menus to actively promote good choices.

This is a history-though, intentionally, a brief history-of the rise of law and economics as a field of thought in the U.S. college and law school academy, though the field has expanded to Europe and South America and will expand further as other legal systems develop. This book explains the origins of the field and the sources of its growth during its formative period. It describes the intellectual roots of the field, and the field's relationship to the understanding of the role of the legal system in directing the functioning of the economy. It describes the effect of the Great Depression and the expansion of governmental power on advancing the functional approach. The book then addresses the work of Aaron Director, during the late 1950s, on focusing economic analysis as a means of understanding the effects of the legal and regulatory system on the allocation of resources in the society. Then it turns to the subsequent intellectual founders of the field-Ronald Coase, Guido Calabresi, and Richard Posner-and attempts to explain the significance of their work. It also discusses the efforts of Robert Bork and Henry Manne toward the influence of law and economics on public policy. The book ends with the founding of the American Law and Economics Association in 1991. This is an essential companion to law and economics texts for undergraduate law and economic students and, especially, a general supplement to first-year casebooks for law school students.

Serving as an introduction to one of the "hottest" topics in financial crime, the Value Added Tax (VAT) fraud, this new and original book aims to analyze and decrypt the fraud and explore multi-disciplinary avenues, thereby exposing nuances and shades that remain concealed by traditional taxation oriented researches. Quantifying the impact of the fraud on the real economy underlines the structural damages propagated by this crime in the European Union. The 'fruadsters' benefit when policy changes are inflicted in an economic space without a fully fledged legal framework. Geopolitical events like the creation of the Eurasian Union and 'Brexit' are analyzed from the perspective of the VAT fraud, thereby underlining the foreseeable risks of such historical turnarounds. In addition, this book also provides a unique collection of case studies that depict the main characteristics of VAT fraud. Introduction to VAT Fraud will be of interest to students at an advanced level, academics and reflective practitioners. It addresses the topics with regards to banking and finance law, international law, criminal law, taxation, accounting, and financial crime. It will be of value to researchers, academics, professionals, and students in the fields of law, financial crime, technology, accounting and taxation.

Bank Regulation, Risk Management, and Compliance is a concise yet comprehensive treatment of the primary areas of US banking regulation - micro-prudential, macroprudential, financial consumer protection, and AML/CFT regulation - and their associated risk management and compliance systems. The book's focus is the US, but its prolific use of standards published by the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision and frequent comparisons with UK and EU versions of US regulation offer a broad perspective on global bank regulation and expectations for internal governance. The book establishes a conceptual framework that helps readers to understand bank regulators' expectations for the risk management and compliance functions. Informed by the author's experience at a major credit rating agency in helping to design and implement a ratings compliance system, it explains how the banking business model, through credit extension and credit intermediation, creates the principal risks that regulation is designed to mitigate: credit, interest rate, market, and operational risk, and, more broadly, systemic risk. The book covers, in a single volume, the four areas of bank regulation and supervision and the associated regulatory expectations and firms' governance systems. Readers desiring to study the subject in a unified manner have needed to separately consult specialized treatments of their areas of interest, resulting in a fragmented grasp of the subject matter. Banking regulation has a cohesive unity due in large part to national authorities' agreement to follow global standards and to the homogenizing effects of the integrated global financial markets. The book is designed for legal, risk, and compliance banking professionals; students in law, business, and other finance-related graduate programs; and finance professionals generally who want a reference book on bank regulation, risk management, and compliance. It can serve both as a primer for entry-level finance professionals and as a reference guide for seasoned risk and compliance officials, senior management, and regulators and other policymakers. Although the book's focus is bank regulation, its coverage of corporate governance, risk management, compliance, and management of conflicts of interest in financial institutions has broad application in other financial services sectors. Chapter 6 of this book is freely available as a downloadable Open Access PDF under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives 4.0 license. https://tandfbis.s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/rt-files/docs/Open+Access+Chapters/9780367367497_oachapter6.pdf

This book examines the case of nominal income targeting as a monetary policy rule. In recent years the most well-known nominal income targeting rule has been NGDP (level) Targeting, associated with a group of economists referred to as market monetarists (Scott Sumner, David Beckworth, and Lars Christensen among others). Nominal income targeting, though not new in monetary theory, was relegated in economic theory following the Keynesian revolution, up until the financial crisis of 2008, when it began to receive renewed attention. This book fills a gap in the literature available to researchers, academics, and policy makers on the benefits of nominal income targeting against alternative monetary rules. It starts with the theoretical foundations of monetary equilibrium. With this foundation laid, it then deals with nominal income targeting as a monetary policy rule. What are the differences between NGDP Targeting and Hayek's rule? How do these rules stand up against other monetary rules like inflation targeting, the Taylor rule, or Friedman's k-percent? Nominal income targeting is a rule which is better equipped to avoid monetary disequilibrium when there is no inflation. Therefore, a book that explores the theoretical foundation of nominal income targeting, comparing it with other monetary rules, using the 2008 crisis to assess it and laying out monetary policy reforms towards a nominal income targeting rule will be timely and of interest to both academics and policy makers.

This book defines and identifies the so-called "financial war on terror." It provides a critical review of the impact of counter-terrorist financing strategies and measures in a number of jurisdictions as well as those enacted by international organizations.

The book analyses the measures introduced by the United Nations, including the UN sanctions against terrorists and the operation of its anti-terrorist sanctions committees. The Special Recommendations of the Financial Action Task Force are also considered. Detailed commentary of the counter-terrorist financing measures of the European Union and the Council of Europe is included. Particular attention is paid to the Framework Decisions on Combating Terrorism, the Council Common Positions on Combating Terrorism and the EU Anti-Terrorism Sanctions Regime.

The book then goes onto to review the measures put in place in the US following September 11th 2001. The roles of the of the Department of Treasury, the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network and the Office of Foreign Assets Control are assessed along with the merger of its anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist financing policies. Looking to the UK Nicholas Ryder considers the UK s history of implementing counter-terrorist financing measures which were used against terrorist groups in Northern Ireland. He then goes on to explore the evolution of the UKs counter-terrorist financing measures to the recent measures against Islamic terrorist groups. The book also explores the counter-terrorist financing measures adopted in Switzerland and the impact of the financial war on terror in Saudi Arabia. The book highlights the levels of compliance in each of the selected jurisdictions with the requirements of the "financial war on terror."

Offering a much-needed legal analysis of the measures enacted under the "financial war on terror" this book is a valuable resource for those researching in law, terrorism studies, criminal justice, and finance."

Retail Depositor and Retail Investor Protection under EU Law offers an original perspective on EU financial law in the area of retail investor protection, examining the status of protection awarded by EU law to retail depositors and retail investors in the event of financial institution failure. The analysis of relevant EU law is on the basis of effectiveness and has been elaborated in two levels of comparison. The first comparative approach examines relevant EU law both externally and internally: externally, vis-a-vis relevant international initiatives and developments in the area of financial law, as the latter affect the features and evolution of EU law, and internally by examining relevant instruments of EU law with regard to each other as to their normative structure and content. The second comparative approach also examines the status of retail depositors in relation to that of retail investors under EU law, in the event of financial institution failure, and the relevant legal consequences thereof.

European Banking and Financial Law Statutes presents all the key legislation for European banking and financial law in one student-friendly volume. This book is: * up-to-date with the law: based on the official consolidated texts of all relevant European instruments, this book provides a fully current collection of legislation * tailored to course outlines: content has been curated to align with European banking and financial law courses * exam friendly: conforming to regulations, this is an un-annotated text that is suitable for exam use * easy to use: a clear and attractive text design, detailed table of contents and multiple indices provides ease of reference and navigation. Ideal for course and exam use, as well as for reference, this book is a perfect companion resource for student learning and exam success, which is especially tailored for use in combination with the European Banking and Financial Law textbook.

Market abuse and insider dealing remains and always has been a real concern for all those that operate in the financial sector. Some of the earliest laws relating to trade outlaw attempts to artificially interfere with the proper functions of the markets and ensure fairness. With recent changes to both the UK and European regimes the line between what is normal (and sensible) business practice and what may now be classified as market abuse is becoming increasingly fine. This raises questions about communications between financial institutions and investors, and about corporate and analyst access. Market Abuse and Insider Dealing provides guidance on and explanation of the range of potential legal and regulatory responses to this complex area of law. Providing a thorough analysis and assessment of the law relating to market abuse and insider dealing, the new fourth edition includes: - analysis of the impact of Brexit - significant new case law and legislation including MiFID II; Money Laundering Regulations 2017; the Money Laundering, Terrorist Financing and Transfer of Funds (Information on the Payer) Regulations 2017; Criminal Finances Act 2017 with Unexplained Wealth Orders; The Fifth Money Laundering Directive - the new Corporate Governance Code - new content on: control and senior managers' responsibility/liability; the FCAs competition law jurisdiction where it is appropriate to do so in relation to market abuse; a new table of UK decided market abuse cases

There are many deep-seated reasons for the current financial turmoil but a key factor has undoubtedly been the serious failings within the corporate governance practices of financial institutions. There have been shortcomings in the risk management and incentive structures; the boards' supervision was at times weak; disclosure and accounting standards were in some cases inadequate; the institutional investors' engagement with management was at times insufficient and, last but not least, the remuneration policies of many large institutions appeared inappropriate. This book will provide a critical overview and analysis of key corporate governance weaknesses, focusing primarily on three main areas: directors' failure to understand complex company transactions; the poor remuneration practices of financial institutions; and, finally, the failure of institutional investors to sufficiently engage with management. The book, while largely focused on the UK, will also consider EU and Australian developments as well as offering a comparative angle looking at the corporate governance of financial institutions in the US.

Offering a comparative case study of transitional justice processes in Afghanistan and Nepal, this book critically evaluates the way the "local" is consulted in post-conflict efforts toward peace and reconciliation. It argues that there is a tendency in transitional justice efforts to contain the discussion of the "local" within religious and cultural parameters, thus engaging only with a "static local," as interpreted by certain local stakeholders. Based on data collected through interviews and participant observation carried out in the civil societies of the respective countries, this book brings attention to a "dynamic local," where societal norms evolve, and realities on the ground are shaped by shifting power dynamics, local hierarchies, and inequalities between actors. It suggests that the "local" must be understood as an inter-subjective concept, the meaning of which is not only an evolving and moving target, but also dependent on who is consulted to interpret it to external actors. This timely book engages with the divergent range of civil society voices and offers ways to move forward by including their concerns in the efforts to help impoverished war-torn societies transition from a state of war to the conditions of peace.

The Basel Accord - now commonly referred to as "Basel I" - has exerted a profound influence on international financial politics and domestic prudential financial sector regulatory policy yet great controversy has always surrounded the Accord's impact on the safety and competitiveness of the world's largest financial institutions and the evolution of trans-national regulatory convergence. The author provides a comprehensive examination of the impact of the 1988 Basel Accord on the capital adequacy regulations of developed economies. The study seeks to understand if the Accord affected broad or isolated convergence of 18 developed states' bank credit risk regulations from 1988 to 2000, and also to understand what political economic variables influenced levels of regulatory isomorphism. Quillin creates a quantitative database of developed states' interpretations of the Basel rules which shows that some persistent distinction remained in the way states implemented the Accord. He also explores why convergence emerged among a subset of states, yet not others, by testing a battery of political economic explanations.

A new and urgently needed guide to making the American economy more competitive at a time when tech giants have amassed vast market power. The U.S. economy is growing less competitive. Large businesses increasingly profit by taking advantage of their customers and suppliers. These firms can also use sophisticated pricing algorithms and customer data to secure substantial and persistent advantages over smaller players. In our new Gilded Age, the likes of Google and Amazon fill the roles of Standard Oil and U.S. Steel. Jonathan Baker shows how business practices harming competition manage to go unchecked. The law has fallen behind technology, but that is not the only problem. Inspired by Robert Bork, Richard Posner, and the "Chicago school," the Supreme Court has, since the Reagan years, steadily eroded the protections of antitrust. The Antitrust Paradigm demonstrates that Chicago-style reforms intended to unleash competitive enterprise have instead inflated market power, harming the welfare of workers and consumers, squelching innovation, and reducing overall economic growth. Baker identifies the errors in economic arguments for staying the course and advocates for a middle path between laissez-faire and forced deconcentration: the revival of pro-competitive economic regulation, of which antitrust has long been the backbone. Drawing on the latest in empirical and theoretical economics to defend the benefits of antitrust, Baker shows how enforcement and jurisprudence can be updated for the high-tech economy. His prescription is straightforward. The sooner courts and the antitrust enforcement agencies stop listening to the Chicago school and start paying attention to modern economics, the sooner Americans will reap the benefits of competition.

The Economics of Crime presents a review of economic scholarly research in the ever-growing field of crime and punishment. Without using graphs or mathematical equations, Winter combines theory and empirical evidence relating to public policy concerns over a wide range of controversial topics such as the death penalty, racial bias in the criminal justice system, gun control, the war on drugs, fines versus imprisonment, policing tactics, and shaming punishments. In addition to offering an updated and expanded coverage of these, and other topics, this second edition is more international in scope, with the inclusion of studies that use data from Italy, Australia, the U.K., Singapore, Brazil, and others. Also included is a brand-new chapter on the application of behavioral economics to crime and punishment, providing readers with a succinct introduction to this modern and increasingly important approach to economic issues. By requiring no previous knowledge of economics, this book continues to be the perfect choice for students new to the study of economics and public policy, whether it is in the discipline of economics, political science, criminology, law, or any other field that is concerned with issues in crime and punishment. Furthermore, due to its accessibility, The Economics of Crime can be enjoyed by anyone who follows current public policy debate over some of society's most contentious issues.

This book examines the legal and regulatory aspects of cryptocurrency and blockchain and the emerging practical issues that these issues involve. The analysis covers a range of advanced economies across the world, in America, Europe and Asia. The book describes, explains and analyses the nature of cryptocurrencies and the blockchain systems they are constructed on in these major world economies and considers relevant law and regulation and their shortcomings. It will be of use and interest to academics, lawyers, regulators and anyone involved with cryptocurrencies and blockchain.

This book brings together politics, law, financial services regulation, economics and housing policy in the analysis of mortgage lending and macroprudential policy in the UK and US. The book addresses the relationship between housing policy, credit and financial instability in light of the recent global financial crisis, and proposes both short and long-term solutions. Although it is not known where the next crisis will come from, history suggests that it will have credit and property at its source. Thus, it is important that the UK and other countries look more broadly at what should be done in terms of policies, institutions and tools to make the housing market and mortgage lenders more resilient against a future crisis. This book sets out a number of workable proposals. Central to this work are questions relating to the quantitative macroprudential measures, such as loan-to-value (LTV) and debt-to-income (DTI) restrictions, and whether these can be used to any significant extent in western democracies and, if employed, whether they are likely to be effective. In particular, the book questions the political legitimacy of their use and the potential consequences for the institutions, such as central banks, promulgating such policies. Preserving financial stability in very uncertain market conditions is of key importance to central bankers and other regulators, and macroprudential policy is a rapidly growing subject for both legal and economics study. This book will therefore be of interest to financial professionals, policy-makers and academics.

Money is a legal institution with principal economic and sociological consequences. Money is a debt, because that is how it is conceptualised and comes into existence: as circulating credit - if viewed from the creditor's perspective - or, from the debtor's viewpoint, as debt. This book presents a legal theory of money, based on the concept of dematerialised property. It describes the money creation or money supply process for cash and for bank money, and looks at modern forms of money, such as cryptocurrencies. It also shows why mainstream economics presupposes, but avoids an analysis of, money by effectively eliminating money from the microeconomic market model and declaring it as merely a neutral medium of exchange and unit of account. The book explains that money rather brings about and influences substantially the exchange or transaction it is supposed to facilitate only as a neutral medium. As the most liquid of all assets, money enables financialisation, monetisation and commodification in the economy. The central role of the banks in the money creation process and in the economy, and their strengthened position after the bank rescue measures in the wake of the financial crisis 2008-9 are also discussed. Providing a rigorous analysis of the most salient legal issues regarding money, this book will appeal to legal theorists, economists and anyone working in commercial or banking law.

In digital economies, the Internet enables the "platformisation" of everything. Big technology companies and mobile apps are running mega marketplaces, supported by seamless online payments systems. This rapidly expanding ecosystem is fueled by data. Meanwhile, perceptions of the global financial crisis, data breaches, disinformation and the manipulation of political sentiment have combined to create a modern trust crisis. A lack of trust constrains commerce, particularly in terms of consumer protection and investment. Big data, artificial intelligence, automated algorithms and blockchain technology offer new solutions and risks. Trust in our legal systems depends on certainty, consistency and enforceability of the law. However, regulatory and remedial gaps exist because the law has not kept up with technology. This work explores the role of competency and good faith, in the creation of social and legal relationships of trust; and the need for governance transparency and human accountability to combat distrust, particularly in digital economies.

Since the 9/11 attacks the world has witnessed the creation of both domestic and international legal instruments designed to disrupt and interdict the financial activities of terrorists. This book analyses the counter-terrorist financing law (CTF), policy and practice at the national level, focusing on Turkey. The work examines the limits and capabilities of CTF efforts on terrorism threats and determines the effectiveness of CTF efforts in Turkey, a country which has a pivotal role in terms of countering terrorism regionally and internationally. The Turkish case-study is supported by an empirical study involving 37 semi-structured interviews with CTF practitioners and law enforcement experts with different affiliations and backgrounds. The findings illustrate that Turkey's CTF system has not obtained an adequate level of effectiveness as a result of lack of proper implementation of its policy in the bureaucratic, legal and operational spheres. It is evident that the administrative and legal systems in Turkey are established according to the 'one-size-fits-all' international CTF standards and thus are compliant with the international CTF benchmarks, yet the interviews reveal significant challenges at the implementation level including lack of training and financial security, heavy handed bureaucracy, inadequate coordination and communication between international and national levels. The book will be an invaluable resource for academics, students and policy-makers working in the areas of financial crime and terrorism.

The 21st century witnessed major changes in the financial environment surrounding bank regulators and banks. Banking and Monetary Policies in a Changing Financial Environment delves into three of these developments and challenges. The first change in the financial environment relates to the rise in the number and sophistication of financial and economic crimes which shaped the international regulatory architecture. New rules and regulations led to the creation of new strategies to combat these crimes, especially those concerning the spread of more advanced money laundering methods and techniques, terrorist financing after the 9/11 attacks, and the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction. The second development concerns the global financial crisis of 2008 which drastically affected the regulatory environment of various international and domestic financial authorities causing major changes in bank lending and corporate governance policies, and in the development of the Basel III accord on capital adequacy for bank supervision. The third development manifests itself in the creation of a major European monetary union without a fiscal union and a giant European central bank impacting the conduct of monetary policy. This book combines theory, policy, regulation and institutional approaches with empirical testing, analyzing applications and case studies of various international regulatory authorities and administrations, countries and jurisdictions, central banks and commercial banks. This volume is suitable for those who study international finance, Banking and white collar crime.