This piece critically reviews the potential impact of the FSA’s application of its ‘Operational Risk’ approach to regulation. It uses the Treasury proposals for ‘Sandler’ products as an example of the disastrous results that can arise from the combination of political direction of...

This paper reviews the major developments in law and policy arising from cases involving the FSA Enforcement Division in the two years after N2. It considers how the FSA has reacted to dealing with the expectations and pressures of publicity which will lead to a change in the rules affecting...

This paper is a commentary on the third in the series of consultative papers (CP3) on a New Basel Capital Accord for banks, earlier papers being issued in 1999 and 2001. While CP3 retains the overall structure of its predecessor, it contains many revisions and a more complete set of rules....

The paper highlights what are currently the most relevant aspects in the debate surrounding the possible reform in the institutional setup of financial markets regulation and supervision, not least about the future role of Central Banks. As a preliminary question, the definition of financial...

In order to realise economies of scale in the European single market for investment funds, asset managers have typically sought to distribute a single range of investment funds into as many European markets as possible. They have therefore developed an ‘offshore’ business model: of...

A mutual fund must provide prospectuses to each potential investor before the fund may accept monies from that individual. The prospectuses are a major source of information about the fund and yet they have historically been largely unreadable by the public. While the poor readability has been a...

Small firms in developing countries continue to experience difficulties in accessing finance from formal financial institutions. This paper argues that regulating microfinance operations and activities is likely to strengthen microfinance institutions’ (MFIs) financial sustainability. This in...

The mutual fund market timing scandal and continuing investigative probes read like a Greek tragedy. It is beyond comprehension how senior investment management executives would become willing accomplices in fleecing their clients’ assets, impairing their portfolio managers’ investment...