The Financial Crisis One Year Later : Proceedings of a Panel Discussion on Lessons of the Financial Crisis and Implications for Regulatory Reform

This Article consists of an introductory essay and an edited transcript of an unusual panel discussion on implications of the financial crisis. A panel of experts composed of prominent corporate and banking law scholars, local financial industry executives, and a bank regulator convened at a recent symposium held at the Creighton University School of Law and engaged in a moderated discussion on applying lessons from the first year of the financial crisis to basic considerations underlying financial regulatory reform. There was a surprising degree of agreement on a number of basic issues between the “pro-regulation” academics and the “pro-market” business executives. In particular, both groups consistently cited the importance of the structure of financial incentives and the necessity of aligning such incentives with organizational goals as both an important cause of, and potential solution to, the financial crisis.The panel discussion covered six broad topics: (1) causes of the financial crisis, (2) government bailouts and market support, (3) historical analogies and lessons,(4) foreign banks and globalization, (5) systemic risk and its regulation, and (6) consumer issues and executive compensation. In each of these areas, the differing perspectives and experiences of the participants and the interaction among them resulted in thought-provoking discussion on fundamental issues of financial system reform