This paper is one of a series of working papers that explore various aspects of Australia's system of financial regulation and the relevance of its experience to reform in other countries. Adopting a broad perspective that outlines the context in which the system operates in Australia, it...

One of the key lessons to come from the global financial crisis (GFC) was that regulation in many jurisdictions was missing an overarching policy framework for financial stability. In response, reformers have increasingly looked to macroprudential policies to plug this regulatory gap. One common...

Concerns arising out of the systemic risks associated with ‘shadow banking' are inherently global in nature as a result of the interconnectedness of shadow banking activities across different jurisdictions and markets. Yet, despite ongoing efforts, it remains very difficult to achieve global...

The enactment of the civil penalty regime in 1993 introduced a new approach to the enforcement of directors' duties by statutory agencies in Australia. The policy considerations that led to the regime, and which continue to inform current policies on corporate law enforcement, require that:...

This paper explores important issues relating to regulatory coordination and integration in the international financial system. Coordination in a regulatory context refers to coordination between regulators in different jurisdictions to achieve desired regulatory outcomes, including effective...

The last two decades have seen an increasing number of jurisdictions adopting the ‘twin peaks' model of financial regulation. Since it was pioneered in Australia, the model has been adopted by the Netherlands, Belgium, New Zealand and the United Kingdom. South Africa is currently in the...

Recent years have seen a trend in many jurisdictions towards the adoption of short-form disclosure documents for retail financial products. This paper analyses the challenges and trends in relation to short-form disclosure documents from a comparative perspective. Developments in the following...

Recent years have seen a trend in many countries towards the adoption of short-form disclosure documents for the sale of financial products (ie, disclosure documents in respect of which the maximum page length is prescribed, either on a mandatory or recommended basis). This trend has been driven...

This paper analyses enforceable undertakings or formally negotiated settlement agreements between the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) and regulated firms and individuals. It reports the findings of an empirical study of 414 enforceable undertakings accepted by ASIC from 1...

This paper presents the preliminary findings of an empirical analysis of sanctions imposed in proceedings brought by Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) and the Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions (CDPP) for contraventions of the directors' duties provisions of the...