Approaches to financial regulation in view of the crisis : Report about the 34th meeting of the German Comparative Law Society

Purpose – Financial crises pose a challenge to the legal systems of the concerned countries and international organizations. The current crisis has exposed significant failures of regulation and supervision, making the Financial Market Law a key topic on the political agenda. Thus, great changes and challenges are ahead of us. These were the focus of an interdisciplinary and comparative conference held at the University of Marburg. The paper deals with the individual presentations and carries out an overall analysis. Design/methodology/approach – The paper covers the most important issues in financial regulation. Findings – An extensive regulation is confronted with several obstacles; suitable approach could be the co-regulation; desirable aim is the instauration of the mechanism of capital markets. Those who gain the benefits in case of success should also bear the losses in case of failure instead of being rescued at taxpayers’ expense. Originality/value – The difficulties arising from extensive regulation suggest a more liberal approach to financial regulation.