Legitimacy of the G-20 as Global Financial Regulator

The G-20 has been established more than 10 years ago as a reaction to the Asian financial crisis without - at first - gaining much weight on the international scene, however, the financial crisis of 2007/08 has caused a re-vitalization on a higher level, namely as body of the "G-20 Leaders". The legitimacy and democratic foundation of the G-20 is quite vague if the traditional notion of enabling "real consensus" between the many governed is applied: The G-20 processes are lacking bargaining power in favor of the potential participants concerned by financial regulations. Notwithstanding this fact, it cannot be overlooked that the involvement of the G-20 in regulatory topics is substantial, particularly related to the reform of international organizations, the implementation of macroeconomic regulation and the regulatory cooperation. This factual situation must be brought in line with new concepts of international law, for example informal law-making and the development of legitimacy elements in informal situations