We develop a simple model of banking regulation with two policy instruments: minimum capital requirements and supervision of domestic banks. The regulator faces a trade-off: high capital requirements cause a drop in the banks’ profitability, while strict supervision reduces the scope of...

This article analyzes the manifold situations in which the efficient-market hypothesis (EMH) has influenced—or has failed to influence—federal securities regulation and state corporate law, and the prospective roles for the EMH in these contexts. In federal securities regulation, the EMH has...

Proponents of liberal economic policies in the financial market often refer to the moral and economic authority of Adam Smith, the founder of economics as a science, to add weight to their recommendations. They think, they can do so, because Adam Smith is in these circles considered a prominent...

In 2007, both the U.S. and the E.U. implemented sweeping reforms in the regulation of stock exchange trading and market structure, following diametrically opposite approaches. While the E.U. effort is deregulatory and decentralized, allowing investors' choices to determine how different...

During the past twenty years, swap contracts have become key financial quot;adaptersquot; linking diverse national financial systems to the global financial network. Today banks and investment companies around the world use swaps extensively to manage their currency, interest-rate, and...

This article is the Belgian report concerning rating agencies to the 2006 Congress of the International Academy of Comparative Law to be held in Utrecht. After describing credit rating practices in Belgium, the report considers the extent to which Belgian regulation requires, or relies upon,...

Predatory lending, the origination of loans with abusive terms to homeowners, is rampant in the subprime mortgage market. In the last few years, many states responded to this problem by enacting consumer protection laws. Large segments of the lending industry have opposed these laws. In large...

The globalization of finance has led to the development of more integrated global exchange networks among countries and deeper interrelationships between their economies. Many financial institutions and activities that once were local are now international. While business and finance are global...

During the past twenty years, swap contracts have become key financial quot;adaptersquot; linking diverse national financial systems to the global financial network. Today banks and investment companies around the world use swaps extensively to manage their currency, interest-rate, and...

The study examines the economic consequences of regulated disclosure in the banking sector, focusing on its impacts on the stability of banking systems. In a cross-country study of banking systems across 49 countries in the 90s, I find that banking crises are less likely in countries with...