The politics of financial services regulation : reform and design in a footloose world

Abstract

This thesis sets out to investigate why, in an increasingly integrated and interconnected world financial system, the design of financial regulatory regimes remains distinctly national. The issue is puzzling for two reasons. First, the state and economic actors within different countries are subject to many of the same pressures. Secondly, the cross national regulatory objectives are very similar. The question to be addressed is what drives regulatory reform and why is such cross national variation in regulatory regime design exhibited.