Since the 1960s, the EU has tried to forge a legal regime for investment services. These efforts have been marred by controversy, with views diverging on the appropriate level of competition in the field of securities trading. In November 2002, the Commission presented its proposal for a revised Investment Services Directive (ISD), the latest part of these efforts. The purpose of this paper is not to make a paragraph-by-paragraph analysis of the 2002 ISD Proposal, probably the most important part of the Financial Services Action Plan (FSAP). Instead, it focuses on the ISD"s attempts to create a regulatory framework adapted to more a contestable trading sector. The report"s main centre of attention is therefore the new transparency regime, in particular the much-debated issue of whether to extend pre-trade requirements to investment firms and concentrates essentially on issues related to cash-equity markets. The aim is to put this at first sight technical debate in perspective by providing a historical overview of Community investment services legislation, explaining how securities markets work, outlining the conflicting forces shaping market structures, providing an overview of changes to market structure during the last decades, explaining the instruments at regulators" disposal for dealing with dynamic markets, evaluating the regulatory concerns that the market changes give rise to and assessing the appropriateness and feasibility of the Commission"s proposed regulatory framework.

Bank Regulation: Effects on Strategy, Financial Accounting and Management Control discusses and problematizes how regulation is affecting bank strategies as well as their financial accounting and management control systems. Following a period of bank de-regulation, the new millennium brought a drastic change, with many new regulations. Some of these are the result of the financial crisis of 2008-2009. Other regulations, such as the introduction in 2005 of International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) for quoted companies in the EU, can be related to the introduction of a new global accounting regime. It is evident from annual reports of banks that the number of new regulations in recent years is high and that they cover many different functional areas. The objectives of these regulations are also ambitious; to improve governance and control, contributing to a high level of financial stability for banks. These objectives are obviously of great concern for an industry that directly and indirectly affects the financial situation not only of individuals and organizations but also nation states. Considering the importance of banks in society, it is of little surprise that the attention of both scholars and practitioners has been directed towards how banks comply with new regulations and if the intended objectives of the regulations are met. This book will be of great value to all those interested in financial stability matters (practitioners, policy-makers, students, academics), as well as to accounting and finance scholars.

Assessing regulatory measures taken at the EU level that impact European bond markets, this book examines the desirability, utility, and feasibility of certain policy measures.

The Market in Financial Instruments Directive (MiFID) is nothing short of a revolution. Introduced on 1 November 2007, it will have a profound, long-term impact on Europe's securities markets. It will see banks operating as exchanges for certain activities, offering alternative execution services that more closely resemble the structure of over-the-counter markets, and will lead to the decentralisation of order execution in an array of venues previously governed by concentration rules. Crucially, MiFID will also have a profound impact on the organisation and business strategies of investment firms, exchanges, asset managers and other financial markets intermediaries. Until now, analysis has focused on the directive's short term implementation issues. This book focuses on the long term strategic implications associated with MiFID, and will be essential reading for anybody who recognises that their firm will need to make constant dynamic readjustments in order to remain competitive in this challenging new environment.

The rise of the regulatory state has been a major feature of modern constitutional democracies. India, the world's largest democracy, is no exception to this trend. This book is the first major study of regulation in India. It considers how the development of regulation in India has altered the nature and functions of the state; how it is reshaping the relationship between business and the state; how it has called for the refashioning of established legal principles; and how it has raised new questions about the relationship between technical expertise and the rule of law. The chapters cover topics ranging from the foundations of the Indian regulatory state to the form of regulation across different sectors to regulation in practice. Together, the chapters reveal the challenges, promise, and limitations offered by contemporary regulatory practices, and they capture the close if sometimes fraught relationship that regulation must inevitably share with the political economy and constitutional schema within which it operates.