Asset management is a major industry playing an increasingly important role in economic activity around the world. Asset managers provide services to individuals, governments, public agencies, banks, pension funds, insurance companies, and charities, to name a few. Traditionally, asset management has been primarily associated with the 'stock market' economies of the UK and the USA, but, as this book shows, some of the most spectacular growth in activity of recent years has occurred in Continental Europe. This has presented opportunities and challenges. New forms of financial instruments and institutions have emerged in countries that have traditionally relied on debt and non-market forms of intermediation. Competition has intensified, and entry has occurred both within and across national markets. However, this growth has been accompanied by potential problems: while investors enjoy a wider range of products and services, they face more complex instruments and transactions. Therefore, the potential for failures, such as misdealing and fraud, may have increased. The natural response is to strengthen regulation, but there is a fine balance to be struck between inadequate and excessive regulation of asset managers. This is particularly complicated in the context of European capital markets. European countries have traditionally had very different financial systems and asset management businesses, therefore it is no surprise to discover many different approaches to regulating asset managers. How should the European Commission respond to this diversity? Should it seek to create greater uniformity via common regulatory rules? The particular focus of this book is financial resource requirements. There is currently an active debate about the role capital requirements should play in asset management, particularly in the European context. In order to address this issue, the authors argue that it is necessary to understand the nature of the asset management business in different countries and the risks that it faces. They therefore discuss how the asset management business operates; how it is organized; the nature and size of risks in the business, who bears them, and how they are financed; and what the alternative forms of investor protection are, together with their associated costs and benefits.

Asset management is a major industry playing an increasingly important role in economic activity around the world. Asset managers provide services to individuals, governments, public agencies, banks, pension funds, insurance companies, and charities, to name a few. Traditionally, assetmanagement has been primarily associated with the 'stock market' economies of the UK and the USA, but, as this book shows, some of the most spectacular growth in activity of recent years has occurred in Continental Europe.This has presented opportunities and challenges. New forms of financial instruments and institutions have emerged in countries that have traditionally relied on debt and non-market forms of intermediation. Competition has intensified, and entry has occurred both within and across national markets.However, this growth has been accompanied by potential problems: while investors enjoy a wider range of products and services, they face more complex instruments and transactions. Therefore, the potential for failures, such as misdealing and fraud, may have increased. The natural response is tostrengthen regulation, but there is a fine balance to be struck between inadequate and excessive regulation of asset managers.This is particularly complicated in the context of European capital markets. European countries have traditionally had very different financial systems and asset management businesses, therefore it is no surprise to discover many different approaches to regulating asset managers. How should theEuropean Commission respond to this diversity? Should it seek to create greater uniformity via common regulatory rules?The particular focus of this book is financial resource requirements. There is currently an active debate about the role capital requirements should play in asset management, particularly in the European context. In order to address this issue, the authors argue that it is necessary to understandthe nature of the asset management business in different countries and the risks that it faces. They therefore discuss how the asset management business operates; how it is organized; the nature and size of risks in the business, who bears them, and how they are financed; and what the alternativeforms of investor protection are, together with their associated costs and benefits.

Mention Enron or BCCI and a lack of financial regulation springs to mind. Consumer confidence is at a low ebb as consumers feel unprotected. This comparative survey of European and US consumer protection schemes offers detailed information on how much protection investors really have in these troubled times.

This comprehensive book offers a rigorous analysis of the legal debates, approaches and practice-related issues surrounding financial advice and investor protection. Despite widespread recognition of the importance of financial inclusion more broadly construed, recent financial crises have highlighted deficits in retail investor protection – this book informs the development of robust yet adaptable frameworks to protect investors, including effective enforcement and dispute resolution.

This authoritative study of the investment management business focuses on the use of capital requirements for investment managers as a means of investor protection. Commissioned by the Investment Management Regulatory Organization and drawing on extensive discussions with investment managers, it provides a comprehensive account of how the investment management business is organized and identifies its inherent risks. The authors examine the cause and incidence of market failures as well as the dangers to investors through mismanagement and malpractice, and provide an extensive treatment of fraud, with a full listing of British fraud cases since the early 1970s. The report concludes with a summary of the risks faced by investors and recommendations for appropriate forms of protection; and, on the basis of existing regulatory structures in the United Kingdom and the United States, proposes an alternative structure in accordance with the authors' analysis.

The topic of investor protection has occupied investors, businesses, regulators, academics, and courts since the 1930s. The topic exploded in importance after the 2008 financial crisis and the Bernard Madoff Ponzi scheme of the same year. Investor protection scholarship now seeks to respond to developments such as the institutionalization of the markets, the democratization of finance, and the enhanced role of market professionals and other gatekeepers. Additionally, although the philosophy of full disclosure remains the guiding principle behind the securities laws, recent research has questioned the merits of a disclosure-based regime. In light of these trends, regulators try to strike the right balance between imposing a strict investor protection regime, on the one hand, and giving businesses the freedom to innovate new projects, market new services, and reduce costs, on the other. The Cambridge Handbook of Investor Protection brings together leading scholars to inform this debate and fill a gap left by these developments.

The paper discusses how asset managers are regulated in the UK in order to provide investor protection and market confidence. Fiduciary duties and the duty of care in the English common law, statutory laws, the rules of the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), and other industry codes are examined to provide an explanation of the UK regulatory approach to the asset management industry. The paper then discusses the extent to which a legal transplant of the UK model to China may be feasible as the asset management industry is currently being reformed in China. Recommendations are made for China to develop an independent asset management industry, to provide more investment outlets for investors, and to have effective enforcement mechanisms of laws and rules to deliver market confidence and investor protection.