"The financial crisis exposed dangerous weaknesses in the regulatory and oversight structure that need to be urgently corrected to restore confidence in the financial system and to keep the single market alive. Towards this end, this CEPS Task Force report puts forward three main policy recommendations to the EU: 1) The European Council should formally mandate the High-Level Expert Group on EU financial supervision to analyse the optimal structure of financial oversight and propose concrete steps leading to a European System of Financial Supervisors, 2) A European Financial Institute should be created to lay the groundwork for the establishment of the European System of Financial Supervisors and 3) The European System of Financial Supervisors should be given definitive target date to commence operations."--Publisher.

Scientific Essay from the year 2009 in the subject Law - European and International Law, Intellectual Properties, grade: Distinction, University of Edinburgh (School of Law), course: Regulatory governance in the European Union, language: English, abstract: The aim of this paper is threefold: first to establish how the regulatory and supervisory architecture has evolved in Europe over the last decade; second to determine how the shortcomings of the present system affected the onslaught of the financial crisis in Europe; and lastly to evaluate whether the proposed regulatory and supervisory reforms are likely to successfully repair these weaknesses. Part I identifies that the single market objective, combined with the significant integration of European financial services, provided the major impetus for bringing about reform to the regulatory and supervisory architecture of Europe. By investigating the Financial Services Action Plan (FSAP) and the implementation of the Lamfalussy Process, this paper illustrates that the member states and the EU institutions sought to achieve a flexible regulatory and supervisory structure marked by cooperation and conversion towards common standards. However, despite the commendable progress made, Part II shows that the regulatory and supervisory system has not kept pace with the financial integration, and that the current crisis revealed substantial inadequacies of the present system. This paper will demonstrate that the weaknesses in the European financial regulatory and supervisory architecture acted both as contributing causes of the crisis, and as exacerbating factors. In particular the essay identifies three such shortcomings that aggravated the crisis, namely that the current system caused a breakdown in member state cooperation and coordination, that it is marked by inconsistency, and that it lacks a sufficiently developed EU-dimension. Lastly, Part III investigates the proposed regulatory and supervisory reforms that the de Larosière Report brought forth. The Report makes recommendations for extensive reform and it is submitted that not only are these reforms likely to cure many of the current cooperation and convergence problems, but they would also equip Europe with a partially centralised supervisory structure that would help prevent future crises of similar cataclysmic proportions.

This comprehensive account of financial regulation and supervision in times of crisis analyses the complex changes under way regarding the new financial regulatory structures in the EU. Focusing on the organisation of financial supervision, it deals with the background to the reforms, the architecture of the regulatory system, the likely implications for the financial institutions and the challenge of international co-operation. Changes in the US have been heavily criticised and in Europe a brand new regulatory system with three new regulatory agencies and a systemic risk board has been developed. National systems are in the process of being updated. International cooperation, although still difficult, has made progress, with the Financial Stability Board now acting on behalf of the G.20. Central bank cooperation has improved significantly and in the meantime, sectoral regulations are being adapted in full speed, such as Basel III, AIDMD, MiFID and many others. This book gives an overall view of these complex changes. The first section of the book provides an assessment of the reforms and considers the background to their making. In the section on regulatory structure there is analysis of the new regulatory bodies, their complex competences and actions. The book also takes a critical look at their likely effectiveness. The final section of the work considers the actual implementation of the new rules in a cross-border context.

Globalization and the financial crisis highlight the problems caused by worldwide banking organizations and force financial groups to reassess their development strategies. This book discusses the impact of the crisis on the consolidation process in the European financial industry and the need for regulation and financial supervision.