In this Policy Brief, PIIE Visiting Fellow Nicolas Véron provides a comprehensive analysis of the strategic challenges facing the attempt to harmonize the world's accounting practices through the global spread of International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS). After taking stock of the...

New obstacles to the European banking union have emerged over the last year, but a successful transition is both necessary and possible. European leaders have to acknowledge a sequence of policy changes that must take place before the banking union can be completed. Specifically, in the second...

Special resolution regimes for banks and systemically important financial institutions are an attractive alternative to both insolvency and public bailouts and have a compelling track record. The European Council has outlined a policy sequence of three successive steps including the Single...

The European Union will have to put forth significant effort to develop its own financial regulation system in the absence of strong momentum towards global standards. Nicolas Véron compares US and EU regulatory responses to the global financial crisis and then breaks down the specific areas of...

Two major shifts in the global financial regulatory landscape are likely impeding harmonization of global financial regulation: financial multipolarity, meaning the rise of emerging-market economies such as China and the impact of this trend on decision-making at the global level, and financial...

The European Union's aggressive response to the global financial crisis has prevented financial meltdown, but the continent's banking industry remains very fragile. Experts estimate coming losses in excess of $500 billion, with very little written down so far. These losses plus the problems in...

Europe must adopt policies to grow and reform at the same time to reverse its downward economic slide, excessively low inflation, high unemployment, and the risk of a lost decade or more. Seven years after the start of the global financial crisis in 2007, the prospect of secular stagnation...

Active accommodation of fiscal consolidations by monetary policy is controversial, as can be seen in current euro area discussions. While many observers acknowledge that there is usually a place for monetary accommodation in response to fiscal consolidation, a sequencing argument is often heard...

The escalating crisis in Ukraine has prompted the United States and Europe to impose the toughest economic sanctions against Russia since the end of the Cold War. Continued instability and military conflict in eastern Ukraine are straining Ukrainian finances. Despite a generous international...

China's property market has slowed more than expected since the first half of 2014, leading many commentators to believe this could trigger a hard landing of the Chinese economy, even a financial crisis. However, China's nascent property market is experiencing another cyclical turn. The...