This book offers the first systematic discussion of a new and promising field: the economics of independence, accountability and governance of financial supervision institutions. For a long time the design of supervision had been an irrelevant issue, both in theory and practice. This perception changed dramatically in the mid-1990s, and over the past decade many countries have witnessed changes in the architecture of financial supervision. This book presents frameworks for analyzing the emerging supervisory architectures and sheds light on the different supervisory regimes, with a particular focus on the role of central banks. It takes a country-specific, comparative and empirical approach. Designing Financial Supervision Institutions will be an accessible reference tool for multidisciplinary scholars and academics (principally economics, but also politics and law), policymakers, regulators and supervisory institutions. All royalties from this book to go to the UK charity, NSPCC.

Analyzing ongoing changes in the design of regulatory and supervisory authorities over the banking and financial industry in Europe, this comprehensive Handbook pays particular attention to the role of national central banks, the new financial supervisory authorities and the European Central Bank (ECB). The contributors, all experts in their fields, begin by presenting the current situation in Europe, focusing on the role of the central banks, before going on to illustrate the supervisory architecture reforms of the late 1990s. The Handbook also highlights the emerging role of new integrated financial authorities through an analysis of different national case studies. This new original reference book concludes with a review of the various options now available for the design of supervisory architecture at the European level, considering also the possible involvement of the ECB. The Handbook tackles a number of controversial issues including: * why financial supervision architecture is important and why the issue has arisen at the present time * the roles of national central banks and national policymakers in alternative financial supervisory structures * the advantages and potential hazards of single financial authorities unified or integrated agencies. This essential Handbook is a major multidisciplinary work and will be of great value to scholars and academics - principally in economics, finance and European studies but also politics and law - as well as regulators and supervisory institutions.

What role will the current evolution of banking systems play in the newly adopted EU countries during the historic challenges following enlargement? This book, a blend of economics and political economy, offers a systematic analysis of the current trends in financial intermediation in the countries of the newly enlarged Europe, with particular focus on those policies taken by foreign banks on the one hand, and by regulatory and supervisory authorities on the other. The authors argue that their research has led to one conclusion; in order to enter the EU, the accession countries needed to increase the efficiency of their economic systems rapidly through liberalization and privatization. The book assesses whether the presence of foreign banks will contribute to long term economic growth and financial stability, and how the architecture of banking regulations and supervision should be designed. As a multidisciplinary work, though principally economics, the book will appeal to scholars and academics of politics and law. It also has particular relevance for regulators and supervisory institutions, as well as professionals including bankers, financial operators and also legal compliance officers.

A 2009 G20 official document stated that the era of banking secrecy is over but is it? If banking secrecy is the result of market mechanisms, it suggests that worldwide demand and supply are likely to remain for a long time to come. Since the Global Financial Crisis, many countries have fought to combat banking secrecy, yet it permeates both national and international industries, and global efforts to prevent banking secrecy have been ineffective or at worst counterproductive. In this book, the authors show how the growth of criminal activity has systematically generated a demand for banking secrecy. They explore how national politicians and international banks have been motivated to supply banking secrecy through economic and political incentives, and shed light on the economics and politics of banking secrecy. This book takes a multidisciplinary approach to reveal the variety of behaviours and processes involved in making dirty money appear clean, providing an in-depth study of financial transactions which are characterized by a special purpose: hiding the originally illegal sources. This work will be of interest to students and scholars of economics and finance, and those with an interest in banking secrecy, global finance, international banking, and financial regulation.

The recent dramatic wave of terrorist attacks has further focussed worldwide attention on the money laundering phenomena. The objective of this book is to offer the first systematic analysis of the economics of money laundering and its connection with terrorism finance. The authors first present the general principles of money laundering. They go on to illustrate an institutional and empirical framework that is useful in evaluating the causes and effects of money laundering phenomena in the banking and financial markets. They also analyse the design of the national and international policies aimed at combating them. The book focuses on several crucial issues and offers an analysis of each, including: * modelling the behaviour and process of making dirty money appear clean, hiding the originally criminal or illegal source of the economic activity * demonstrating how the financing of terrorism resembles money laundering in some respects and differs from it in others * explaining how the banking and financial industry can play a pivotal role for the development of the criminal sector as a preferential vehicle for money laundering * showing how schemes of international economics and of tax competition can be applied to black finance issues, claiming that competition for criminal money can lead to a race to the bottom * building up indicators of money laundering attractiveness among developed and emerging countries, with a particular attention on the role of the Offshore centres * dealing with anti-money laundering and counter terrorism finance (AML-CTF) enforcement problems, with a focus on Europe and the USA. Black Finance will be a valuable and accessible tool for scholars and academics, principally in economics, though also in politics and law, as well as for regulators and supervisory institutions. All royalties from this book to go to The Collegiate Foundation for Life

This stimulating and original Handbook offers an updated and systematic discussion of the relationship between central banks, financial regulation and supervision after the global financial crisis. The crisis has raised new questions about the compatibility of monetary and financial stability, which are changing the face of central banking and its relationships with the architecture of financial regulation and supervision. The Handbook explores on both the economics and political economy of the topic, in order to understand how and why reforms of the role of the central banks can be designed and implemented. The general suggestion is that future effectiveness of the central banking architecture will depend on its ability to ensure the consistency between the monetary actions in normal and extraordinary times. Consequently the possible paths in the central bank strategies and tactics, as well as in the classic concepts of independence, accountability and transparency, are analyzed and discussed. With chapters written by outstanding scholars in economics, this lucid Handbook will appeal to academics, policy makers and practitioners, ranging from central bankers and supervisory authorities to financial operators. Among the academics it would be of particular interest to financial and monetary economists (including postgraduate students), but the institutional slant and the central theme of relations between economics, institutional settings and politics will also be invaluable for political scientists. Contributors: F. Amtenbrink, J. Baxa, B. Born, P.C. Boyer, G. Caprio, M. Cihak, A. Cukierman, L. Dalla Pellegrina, J. De Haan, M. Ehrmann, B. Eichengreen, S. Eijffinger, Y. Fang, M. Fratzscher, F. Giavazzi, A. Giovannini, C.A.E. Goodhart, I. Hasan, R. Horvath, D. Masciandaro, L.J. Mester, M.J. Nieto, R. Nijskens, A. Orphanides, J. Ponce, M. Quintyn, M. Rezende, P.L. Siklos, A. Tieman, B. Vasicek, R. Vega Pansini

The scope for financial crime has widened with the expansion and increased integration of financial markets. Money laundering, terrorism financing and tax crime have all changed in both nature and dimension. As new technologies reduce the importance of physical proximity to major onshore financial centres so a new generation of Offshore Financial Centres (OFCs) have emerged. This accessible volume provides a deeper analysis of the economic, institutional and political features of the OFCs, in order to design the optimal international regulatory policy. Using a multidisciplinary approach with an international level of expertise, the book evaluates international policies regarding offshore countries on the basis of a systematic analysis of their characteristics.

The scope for financial crime has widened with the expansion and increased integration of financial markets. Money laundering, terrorism financing and tax crime have all changed in both nature and dimension. As new technologies reduce the importance of physical proximity to major onshore financial centres so a new generation of Offshore Financial Centres (OFCs) have emerged. This accessible volume provides a deeper analysis of the economic, institutional and political features of the OFCs, in order to design the optimal international regulatory policy. Using a multidisciplinary approach with an international level of expertise, the book evaluates international policies regarding offshore countries on the basis of a systematic analysis of their characteristics.

The global financial crisis that started in 2007 sparked several academic debates about the role that financial sector regulators played in the crisis and prompted policy reforms in the financial supervision architectures of several countries. This book focuses on the question of what accountability, independence, transparency and, more generally, governance mechanisms applicable to financial regulators can better contribute to building responsive, responsible and effective regulatory and supervisory frameworks that tackle the weaknesses of the pre-crisis regimes. It re-visits the concepts of accountability and independence of financial regulators as well as the main economic theories underlying financial services policy-making, in light of the crisis experience. In addition, it critically examines the post-crisis institutional frameworks of financial regulation and supervision in the EU, the US and Canada with a view to assessing whether the financial regulators of the post-global financial crisis era are well suited to effectively address the challenges and threats that global financial markets pose to the stability, integrity and good functioning of financial systems as well as to the protection of consumers, investors and society at large.

This stimulating and original Handbook offers an updated and systematic discussion of the relationship between central banks, financial regulation and supervision after the global financial crisis. The crisis has raised new questions about the compatibility of monetary and financial stability, which are changing the face of central banking and its relationships with the architecture of financial regulation and supervision. The Handbook explores on both the economics and political economy of the topic, in order to understand how and why reforms of the role of the central banks can be designed and implemented. The general suggestion is that future effectiveness of the central banking architecture will depend on its ability to ensure the consistency between the monetary actions in normal and extraordinary times. Consequently the possible paths in the central bank strategies and tactics, as well as in the classic concepts of independence, accountability and transparency, are analyzed and discussed. With chapters written by outstanding scholars in economics, this lucid Handbook will appeal to academics, policy makers and practitioners, ranging from central bankers and supervisory authorities to financial operators. Among the academics it would be of particular interest to financial and monetary economists (including postgraduate students), but the institutional slant and the central theme of relations between economics, institutional settings and politics will also be invaluable for political scientists. Contributors: F. Amtenbrink, J. Baxa, B. Born, P.C. Boyer, G. Caprio, M. Cihak, A. Cukierman, L. Dalla Pellegrina, J. De Haan, M. Ehrmann, B. Eichengreen, S. Eijffinger, Y. Fang, M. Fratzscher, F. Giavazzi, A. Giovannini, C.A.E. Goodhart, I. Hasan, R. Horvath, D. Masciandaro, L.J. Mester, M.J. Nieto, R. Nijskens, A. Orphanides, J. Ponce, M. Quintyn, M. Rezende, P.L. Siklos, A. Tieman, B. Vasicek, R. Vega Pansini

There has been a recent evolution in the relationship between modern monetary policy and central banking, visible in the now merged study of public economic choices made every day and the features of monetary architectures and institutions. Though previously separate focuses, these are now accepted by academic scholars and policymakers to be two critical areas that are intrinsically linked.Modern Monetary Policy and Central Bank Governance explores this change by bringing together the best research from experts in the field to achieve a comprehensive examination of the subject, innovatively addressing its two critical angles in a single volume.