The purpose of this paper is to compare the European Union (EU) and United States (U.S.) securities regulations. In November 2007, the market in financial instruments directive 2004/39/EC (MiFID) came into force in the EU, and brought about deep changes in the market infrastructure. The same...

This paper examines the differences between MiFID and Reg NMS and provides, based on market microstructure principles, insights as to their likely impact on European and US securities markets. Although MiFID and Reg NMS share the common objective of enhancing competition in securities markets,...

Although the United States and the European Union were both seriously impacted by the financial crisis of 2007, the resulting policy debates and regulatory responses have differed considerably on the two sides of the Atlantic. In this paper the authors examine the debates on the problem posed by...

This paper documents that standard cross-sectional determinants of firm leverage also apply to the capital structure of large banks in the United States and Europe. We find a remarkable consistency in sign, significance and economic magnitude. Like non-financial firms, banks appear to have...

From the onset of the 2007-2009 crisis, the Federal Reserve and the European Central Bank have aggressively lowered interest rates. Both sets of changes are at odds with an anti-inflationary stance of monetary policy; indeed, as the crisis began in August 2007 inflation expectations were high...

Using a unique dataset of the Euro area and the U.S. bank lending standards, we find that low (monetary policy) short-term interest rates soften standards, for household and corporate loans. This softening - especially for mortgages - is amplified by securitization activity, weak supervision for...

If firms borrow working capital to finance production, then nominal interest rates have a direct influence on inflation dynamics, which appears to be the case empirically. However, interest rates may only partly mirror the cost of working capital. In this paper we explore the role of bank...