Elgar Financial Law series – serie

Law Reform and Financial Markets addresses how law reform can be used to support strong financial markets and draws on the Global Financial Crisis as a case study. This edited collection reflects recent developments, including the EU institutional reforms and Dodd-Frank Act 2010. The different contributions adopt a range of theoretical, contextual, and substantive perspectives, examine different domestic, regional, and international contexts and assess public and private law frameworks in considering how legal and regulatory reforms can be most effectively designed for strong financial markets. This comprehensive book will appeal to academics and postgraduates in the field of financial regulation and in cognate fields, including finance and economics, as well as to regulators and policy makers.Contributors include: K. Alexander, E. Avgouleas, J. Black, M.A.H. Dempster, N. Dorn, C.A. Johnson, E.A. Medova, P. Morris, I. Ramsay, J. Roberts, A. Waclawik-Wejman, T. Williams, S. Zhu

This highly topical book examines how the leading credit rating agencies - Moody's, Standard & Poor's and Fitch - have risen to prominence in the wake of the financial crisis.It investigates how the Big Three have become ever more profitable even though the quality of their ratings has declined and rating scandals have tarnished their reputation. After a century of being left quasi-unregulated the rating industry is now subject to sweeping reforms. This informative study analyzes the post-crisis overhaul in the United States and the European Union. The focus lies on the interactions between regulatory intervention and competitive incentives among the Big Three. This book highlights the challenges faced by policymakers trying to regulate the rating industry and simultaneously decrease over-reliance on ratings.Regulating Credit Rating Agencies will appeal to academics in law and economics, practitioners, policymakers, lawmakers and regulators.Contents: Foreword Part I: Prelude to the Credit Rating Industry 1. Introduction 2. History of Credit Rating Agencies 3. Description of the Credit Rating Industry Part II: Regulatory Structure 4. Rating-based Regulations 5. Regulatory Treatment of Credit Rating Agencies 6. Regulatory Trends Part III: Uses and Abuses of Credit Ratings in Structured Finance 7. Growth of the Structured Finance Segment 8. Wrong Incentives in the Credit Rating Industry 9. Regulatory Response to the Problems of Structured Finance Ratings Part IV: System-wide Effects of Credit Rating Downgrades 10. System-relevance of Credit Ratings 11. Market Reactions to Credit Rating Downgrades and their Consequences 12. Regulatory Response to the Systemic Issue Part V: Trends and Outlook 13. Restoring Competition in the Credit Rating Industry 14. Concluding Remarks Bibliography Index

In this unique study Marek Dubovec examines contemporary commercial relationships between investors and their intermediaries - relationships based on accounts that hold intangible rights to securities, funds, and commodity contracts. Such accounts have replaced the traditional physical possession and delivery of tangible objects, such as security certificates, coins, and commodities that were previously used in commercial relationships.The author identifies and explains the critical components and functions of the systems for the holding of rights in accounts with intermediaries, identifying underlying principles that should be embodied in modern legislation underpinning the law of accounts. He not only compares the three major account-based systems, but does so from a comparative law perspective. He looks particularly at the differences between developed economies, which have established efficiently functioning accounts-based systems, and the majority of developing economies, which have yet to implement or modernize their accounts-holding systems.Contents: Preface Background Part I: Securities Accounts Relationships 1. Introduction to Part I 2. Securities Account Relationships 3. Transfers of Intermediated Securities, Finality and Security Interests 4. Summary of Part I Part II: Bank Account Relationships 5. Introduction to Part II 6. Bank Account Relationships 7. Funds Transfers, Finality and Security Interests 8. Summary of Part II Part III: Commodity Accounts Relationships 9. Introduction to Part III 10. Commodity Account Relationships 11. Commodity Transfers, Finality and Security Interests 12. Summary of Part III Conclusion Index

The recent financial crisis and associated real estate bubble demonstrated the damage that can be caused by imperfect financial market pricing. On the basis of these imperfections, strong financial returns earned by financial institutions in the run-up to 2008 were, in fact, illusory.Executive Compensation in Imperfect Financial Markets explores the relationship between bank lending, real estate markets and stock market prices. Offering a heterodox view of financial market pricing and its relationship with executive pay, this book offers a competing interpretation of the recent crisis, which emphasizes the role of bank leverage and investor expectations in generating instability - particularly through the interaction of financial institutions with the real estate market. In the process, it reveals that equity-based compensation incentivized increased bank leverage, which was a cardinal cause of the crisis.This timely book will be an essential read for all legal scholars and policy analysts operating in the field of banking and finance, as well as all those seeking a more rounded understanding of the financial crisis.Contents: 1. Introduction 2. An Analysis of the Role of Executive Compensation 3. Theories of Securities Market Operation: Principles and Flaws 4. Minsky and the Financial Instability Hypothesis: Implications for Market Efficiency 5. The Global Financial Crisis and the Complex Relationship between Asset Prices, Leverage, and Financial Instability 6. Post-Crisis Reform to Executive Compensation at Financial Institutions 7. Reconstituting Executive Compensation at Financial Institutions: Proposals for Reform 8. Conclusions Index

Focusing primarily on the banking system in the United States, this book offers an innovative framework that integrates a depository bank's liquidity and its capital adequacy into a unified notion of funding that helps to explain how the 2007-2008 crisis unfolded, why central banks succeeded in resolving the crisis, and how the conceptual legacy of the crisis and its resolution led to lasting changes in bank funding regulation, including new objective requirements for bank liquidity. To provide a comparative context, the book also examines the funding models of nonbank intermediaries like dealer banks and insurers.This book provides a nuanced understanding of bank funding practices for legal academics interested in banking regulation or corporate finance and helps place prudential regulation and the private law of funding in the context of the banking business model. Business model scholars, financial academics, and bank regulators will appreciate its readable, integrated approach to understanding some of the most current and conceptually challenging aspects of prudential regulation.

The financial crisis, which spanned 2007 and 2008, may have occurred ten years ago but the resulting regulatory implications are yet to be implemented. This book isolates the occurrences of the derivatives market, which were implied as the core accelerator and enabler of the global financial crisis.Offering a holistic approach to post-crisis derivatives regulation, this book provides insight into how new regulation has dealt with the risk that OTC derivatives pose to financial stability. It discusses the effects that post-crisis regulation has had on central counterparties and the risk associated with clearing of OTC derivatives. Alexandra G. Balmer offers a novel solution to tackle the potential negative externalities from the failure of a central counterparty and identifies potential new risks arising from post-crisis reforms.Comprehensive and astute, this book will provide legal and financial scholars, academics and lawyers with much food for thought. National supervisors and regulators will also benefit from an understanding of general market risks and factors affecting exposure to such risks.

A heavily debated topic, the evolution of shareholders' duties risks the transformation of the very concept of shareholder primacy, crucially associated with shareholder rights. Offering a distinctive and comprehensive examination of both current and forthcoming enforcement mechanisms in the area of shareholder duties, this timely book provides an exhaustive analysis of the many issues related to these mechanisms, and considers the ongoing challenges surrounding their implementation.Enforcing Shareholders' Duties is unique in critically challenging the revised Shareholder Rights Directive as well as other legal provisions. Adopting a holistic view of the possible enforcement issues shareholders may face in company law, it argues for a measured approach in the design of such enforcement mechanisms and for a careful consideration of the effects of a legal interventionist approach. Astute and engaging chapters provide arguments and recommendations for future regulatory initiatives aimed at ensuring shareholders will remain incentivised to invest in companies, whilst still assuming their responsibilities.Students and researchers with an interest in financial and corporate law, particularly from a policy and governance angle, will find this book an important resource. Its focus on the emerging agenda surrounding the enforcement of shareholders' duties ensure it is also highly relevant for legislators, policymakers, and practitioners.Contributors include: A. Anand, H.S. Birkmose, J. Borg-Barthet, I.H.-Y. Chiu, M. Gargantini, E. Howell, C. Malberti, M. Neville, J. Payne, C. Puska

The European Banking Union and the Role of Law offers a comprehensive and unique examination of the European Banking Union's (EBU) impact on existing legal disciplines and assesses the role of law in shaping the EBU framework.With expert contributions from academics, practitioners and EU officials, this thought-provoking book provides different perspectives on the Single Supervisory Mechanism (SSM) and the Single Resolution Mechanism (SRM). Evaluating and proposing original interpretations on the EBU at a key stage of its development in the European Union, this book assesses topical issues relating to the institutional and administrative rules of the EBU, the interpretation and application of banking law, supervision and resolution frameworks, judicial rules and protection in the EBU. The book is structured into three parts: a general overview of the EBU framework and specific reflections on both the SSM and the SRM. The contributions show that the EBU is a successful European integration project, yet challenges still lie ahead. This topical and engaging book will be an important resource for practitioners, and public servants in the financial sector. Academics and students of financial law and European law will also find this book a valuable read.Contributors include: K. Alexander, G. Barrett, M.P. Chiti, A. de Gregorio Merino, D. Fromage, P. Fucile, S. Gleeson, R. Ibrido, G. Lo Schiavo, A. Miglionico, C.A. Petit, P. Schammo, M. Schillig, R. Smits, N. Xanthoulis

In this thorough and enlightening book, the authors examine the role of law in developing the large financial markets necessary for national economic success. They discuss the basic foundational law of contracts, property and tort, corporate law, and securities law, providing both a broad theoretical and empirical case for its value in financial markets. The book begins with an historical analysis of the law's development, reviewing the legal governance of corporate finance with an emphasis on the development of US securities law in the twentieth century. Also provided is an extensive empirical analysis of the law's effect. A unique benefit of the book is its integration of all the relevant aspects, rather than examining them in isolation. Chapters cover the role of law in corporate finance, behavioral and empirical analyses, as well as current controversies in law and corporate finance. Ultimately, the book is a defense of the economic value of the law in the United States and throughout the world.Students and scholars of business and law will find much of interest in the authors' comprehensive study of the rule of law in today's financial markets.

Secured transactions reform, also known as collateral or pledge law reform, is increasingly seen as an important building block for economic development. The commonly held view is that the availability and cost of credit, as well as the efficiency of the market for secured credit, are directly influenced by the laws affecting secured transactions and their implementation. However, there is still a lot of confusion about this relatively complex and technical area of the law and its role in promoting access to credit and economic growth. The chapters presented here provide, for the first time, a comprehensive and cutting-edge view of the subject - from both a legal and economic perspective. They start at the macro level of financial systems, moving towards the behaviours of lenders (commercial banks and micro-lenders), policy options for government and the mechanisms of collateral law reform. By approaching the subject from different angles and experiences, the work advocates an inclusive approach to the subject where all stakeholders' interests can be taken into account. It addresses the question of what role laws and institutions can play to encourage access to credit. This book will be of primary interest to those involved in economic development and the interaction between law and economics, either for practical reasons (for example, working on reform or providing advice on investment in transition economies) or for research purposes.