Droit, architecture financière et stratégies des banques

The legal origin influences the development of the financial system which impacts on the long run economic growth. So, we would like to conclude on the superiority of a special legal tradition or the bank based/market based system. However, the architecture of the financial system is neutral. It is rather the level of development of the financial sector that determines economic growth. Then, banks showed their capacity to react to the institutional changes through the multiplication of their activities and the choice of new debt contracts. Finally, common law, which a priori supports the development of the capital markets, generates nevertheless a legal risk related to the unpredictability of courts? decisions and some difficulties of harmonization due to a decentralized production of the law. JEL code: K29.