This paper introduces the Global Financial Development Database, an extensive dataset of financial system characteristics for 205 economies from 1960 to 2010. The database includes measures of (a) size of financial institutions and markets (financial depth), (b) degree to which individuals can...

Special addresses -- Shared responsibility for the regulation of international banks / Daniel K. Tarullo -- Post-crisis risks and bank equity capital / Thomas M. Hoenig -- Reputational risks and large international banks / Ingo Walter -- The cross-border banking landscape -- Cross-border banking...

A country's legal origin—whether British, French, German, or Scandinavian—helps explain the development of its financial institutions today. Legal systems differ in their ability to facilitate private exchanges and to adapt to support new financial and commercial transactions. A country...