This paper considers supranational initiatives ‐ particularly those emanating from the Organisation for Economic Co‐operation and Development, the Financial Action Task Force and the Financial Stability Forum ‐ proposing changes in the regulation of offshore financial centres. The...

Retail payments systems are a key element in the financial infrastructure of any capitalist economy ‐ through them governments can enact economic policy and individuals and companies can conduct their transactions. A recent development for UK retail payments systems has been the...

In this case study the authors outline how a major financial institution in the Netherlands deals with the practical aspects of implementing a Basel II‐compliant economic capital framework. The paper gives an overview of the programme Rabobank has set on track for the implementation and...

Up to the early 1990s, Uganda’s financial structure was characterised by government controls and instability, leading to financial repression and lack of development in the sector. The sector was, as a consequence, dominated by commercial banks, which are mainly concentrated in urban areas....

The Financial Services Authority’s (FSA) Consultation Paper 121 suggesting depolarisation in the retail financial services sector has generated a great deal of debate. The motivation for the reforms, primarily to improve the position of the consumer, cannot be disputed. Nevertheless, in...

On 16th April, 2002, the authors gave oral evidence to the House of Commons Treasury Committee Inquiry into Financial Regulation of Public Limited Companies which was set up following the collapse of Enron. This paper is adapted from the written submission to the Committee on which their oral...

This paper addresses a fundamental issue in financial regulation ‐ that of the auditor’s ability to detect material irregularities. If an auditor is to detect irregularities he/she must also be cognisant of fraud aetiology by drawing on such other disciplines as psychology, criminology and...

This paper sets out to examine some of the current challenges in corporate governance and control. It comprises two parts. Part 1 examines formal requirements and how they have been interpreted and implemented, deriving some pointers for the way forward. Part 2 examines the more practical...

The Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (the Act) establishes extensive investigative powers and disciplinary powers that may be exercised by the Financial Services Authority (FSA) in certain circumstances. The Act further empowers the FSA to take disciplinary action against approved...

I have been a regulator now for nine years. But for many years before that, in an explicitly non‐regulatory career at the Bank of England, I was very conscious of the efforts being made ‐ especially between the Bank and the Federal Reserve ‐ to get a dialogue under way in what bankers now...