The book addresses the truly interdisciplinary and highly controversial subject of international financial regulation and supervision, which has been at the center of academic, political, and public attention since the start of the current economic and financial crisis. Drawing on international financial regulatory and supervisory experience and in line with the European Monetary Union’s gradual transformation into a Genuine Economic and Monetary Union, it proposes the transformation of the European financial supervisory framework into a hybrid twin-peaks model to create the previously missing necessary legal foundation for the adoption of the so-called Group Support Regime (GSR). The latter is a relatively simple and transparent capital management tool for (re)insurance groups operating in a parent-subsidiary structure proposed by the European Commission under the new Solvency II insurance supervisory framework, which despite lengthy consideration was eventually rejected by Member States.

Mirroring the long-established structure of the financial industry, EU financial regulation as we know it today approaches banking, insurance and investment services separately and often divergently. In recent decades however, the clear separation between financial sectors has gradually evaporated, as business lines have converged across sectors and FinTech solutions have emerged which do not fit traditional sector boundaries. As the contours of the traditional tripartition in the financial industry have faded, the diverging regulatory and supervisory treatment of these sectors has become increasingly at odds with economic reality. This book brings together insights developed by distinguished researchers and industry professionals in a series of articles analysing the main areas of EU financial regulation from a cross-sectoral perspective. For each specific research theme – including prudential regulation, corporate governance and conduct of business rules – the similarities, as well as gaps, overlaps and unjustifiable differences between banking, securities and insurance regulation, are clearly presented and discussed. This innovative research approach is aimed at informing lawmakers and policymakers on potential improvements to EU financial regulation whilst also supporting legal and compliance professionals applying the current framework or looking to streamline compliance processes.

The European experience suggests that the efforts made to achieve an efficient trade-off between monetary policy and prudential supervision ultimately failed. The severity of the global crisis have pushed central banks to explore innovative tools—within or beyond their statutory constraints—capable of restoring the smooth functioning of the financial cycle, including setting macroprudential policy instruments in the regulatory toolkit. But macroprudential and monetary policies, by sharing multiple transmission channels, may interact—and conflict—with each other. Such conflicts may represent not only an economic challenge in the pursuit of price and financial stability, but also a legal uncertainty characterizing the regulatory developments of the EU macroprudential and monetary frameworks. In analyzing the “legal interaction” between the two frameworks in the EU, this book seeks to provide evidence of the inconsistencies associated with the structural separation of macroprudential and monetary frameworks, shedding light upon the legal instruments that could reconcile any potential policy inconsistency.

This book studies relationship dynamics between National Competent Authorities (NCAs) within two agencies governing the European banking sector: the European Banking Authority and the Single Resolution Board. The analysis centres on NCAs policy preferences and the variety thereof, particularly in the context of banking market fragmentation (Euro area vs. non-Euro area countries/banking union "ins" and "outs"). The focus is not so much on the motivations of these preferences, but on the processes and mechanisms that help reach NCAs consensus on prudential matters. Through an interdisciplinary approach rooted in legal analysis and political economy, the book shows how national actors inform decision-making within European agencies in banking, and whether—and how—the reality of differentiated integration within the internal banking market challenges policy creation.

Financial Supervision in Europe discusses the implications of financial market integration for the structure of financial supervision in the European Union. It argues that, at present, negotiations on a European system of supervisors might lead to a compromise that may prove sub-optimal given the evolution of national supervisory models and international financial markets. As integration continues and the most appropriate national supervisory models emerge from a best practices approach, a reform of the organisational structure of supervision in Europe may become necessary. The contributors provide an overview of different arguments surrounding this discussion, and illustrate that several improvements to the present structure of supervision are possible. These include proposals to facilitate the evolution of national models, and concepts to strengthen co-ordination in supervision and in establishing clear procedures in crisis management. Detailing financial market developments in Europe and the US, the book questions the incentives for national supervisory authorities to monitor cross-border activities, to exchange information and to take into account the impact of their dealings with the financial systems of other countries. Classifying models for the organisational structure of financial supervision in Europe, this book will be of great interest to finance ministries, supervisory authorities, central banks and financial institutions. Students, lecturers and researchers of banking and finance will also find the book to be of importance.

The financial crisis prompted financial supervisors to take a critical look at their own performance. The "toolkit" available to supervisors is considerably more varied than it was a few years ago. Supervision has become more forward-looking, taking into account also soft controls, such as ‘conduct and culture’, corporate governance, and business models of financial institutions. This collection of essays discusses several significant changes in supervision methods and supervisory organisations and examines what methods contribute to ‘good supervision’ and what can reasonably be expected of supervisors. The authors are experts in the field and most of them are affiliated to organisations responsible for financial supervision.