Dialectic tensions in the financial markets: a longitudinal study of pre- and post-crisis regulatory technology

This article presents the findings from a longitudinal research study on regulatory technology in the UK financial services industry. The financial crisis with serious corporate and mutual fund scandals raised the profile of compliance as governmental bodies, institutional and private investors introduced a ‘tsunami’ of financial regulations. Adopting a multi-level analysis, this study examines how regulatory technology was used by financial firms to meet their compliance obligations, pre- and post-crisis. Empirical data collected over 12 years examine the deployment of an investment management system in eight financial firms. Interviews with public regulatory bodies, financial institutions and technology providers reveal a culture of compliance with increased transparency, surveillance and accountability. Findings show that dialectic tensions arise as the pursuit of transparency, surveillance and accountability in compliance mandates is simultaneously rationalized, facilitated and obscured by regulatory technology. Responding to these challenges, regulatory bodies continue to impose revised compliance mandates on financial firms to force them to adapt their financial technologies in an ever-changing multi-jurisdictional regulatory landscape

Subsidiarity and Proportionality in the Single Market: An EU fit for inclusive growth

This report offers a fresh perspective on the principles of subsidiarity and proportionality in the European Union based on a thorough-going economic analysis. Specifically, the report uses the EU Single Market as a case to discuss shortcomings and potential improvements in five key policy areas. It reviews how the principles of subsid- iarity and proportionality can help boost growth in the EU at the aggregate country level – while at the same time allowing EU regions to benefit from growth. The report focuses on the regional level as economic growth has been uneven across the EU’s regions over the last decade and, consequently, growing disparities between re- gions have emerged. This alone merits a review on how we can reconcile the twin objectives in the future

Practical guidelines for effective bank resolution

This study adopts a practical approach in developing a set of guidelines on designing a bank resolution framework and implementing efficient bank resolution methods in Latin America. It identifies six pillars that are useful for establishing a bank resolution framework. The study aims to guide policymakers choose from a set of bank resolution methods, by outlining their advantages and disadvantages and establishing efficiency requirements. The focus is on the good-bank/bad-bank approach, which is a type of purchase and assumption mechanism that has increasingly become part of the newer legal frameworks in Latin America. The good-bank/bad-bank approach is an effective bank resolution method because it can be very successful in meeting certain efficiency criteria, including the minimization of contagion costs and preservation of business.Banks&Banking Reform,,Access to Finance,Debt Markets,Bankruptcy and Resolution of Financial Distress

Rising Powers and State Transformation: The Case of China

This article draws attention to the transformation of statehood under globalisation as a crucial dynamic shaping the emergence and conduct of ‘rising powers’. That states are becoming increasingly fragmented, decentralised and internationalised is noted by some international political economy and global governance scholars, but is neglected in International Relations treatments of rising powers. This article critiques this neglect, demonstrating the importance of state transformation in understanding emerging powers’ foreign and security policies, and their attempts to manage their increasingly transnational interests by promoting state transformation elsewhere, particularly in their near-abroad. It demonstrates the argument using the case of China, typically understood as a classical ‘Westphalian’ state. In reality, the Chinese state’s substantial disaggregation profoundly shapes its external conduct in overseas development assistance and conflict zones like the South China Sea, and in its promotion of extraterritorial governance arrangements in spaces like the Greater Mekong Subregion

Bits and bytes of financial regulation

Since 2008, banks have spent more than €342 billion on settlements, enforcement actions, and fines, and until 2020 according to Reuters this value is expected to rise to €400 billion. As a result, technological solutions were implemented to help Financial Institutions deal with the increasing compliance burden and regulators addressing the constant difficulties of enforcing and monitoring regulatory requirements to limit risks and promote financial stability. This led to the emergence of a whole new movement in the Financial Industry - Regulatory Technology. In this dissertation, the aim is to analyze how technology can help Financial Institutions deal with risky behavior and regulatory demands in the most efficient and cost-effective way and to show how extremely complex this process can be, by following the deployment of an electronic communications surveillance tool within a top-tier firm. Electronic communications are crucial parts of investigations such as the subprime mortgage crisis, the London Interbank Offered Rate and the currency market manipulation scandals or the COMEX gold and silver futures markets spoofing scandal. To appropriately address the nature of these threats, holistic risk assessment tools that gather these records (e-mail, chat, voice, trade logs, etc.), discover correlations and provide a credible output that necessitates supervisory review are of extreme importance. The challenge for Front-Office Supervisors is finding the proverbial “needle in a haystack” – the combination of Email, Chats, transactions records, voice logs, and other reports – that should be flagged for suspicious activity and reviewed in conjunction with Compliance and Anti-Fraud teams.Desde 2008, os bancos já gastaram mais de €342 biliões em acordos, ações de fiscalização e multas, e até 2020 segundo a Reuters, este valor deverá subir para €400 biliões. Como resultado, foram implementadas soluções tecnológicas para ajudar as Instituições Financeiras na superação do aumento exponencial de requisitos regulatórios, e para fortalecer a capacidade de resposta dos reguladores face às constantes dificuldades de impor e monitorizar esses mesmos requisitos com o objetivo de limitar os riscos incorridos e por sua vez promover a estabilidade financeira. O que levou ao aparecimento de um novo movimento na Indústria Financeira – Regulatory Technology (Regtech). Nesta dissertação, o objetivo é analisar como a tecnologia pode ajudar as Instituições Financeiras a lidar com comportamentos indevidos e requisitos regulatórios da forma mais eficiente e rentável e mostrar quão extremamente complexo este processo pode ser, ao seguir de perto a implementação de uma ferramenta de vigilância de comunicações eletrónicas dentro de uma grande Instituição Financeira. As comunicações eletrónicas são partes cruciais de investigações de escândalos financeiros, como observado na crise do suprime, na manipulação da London Interbank Offered Rate, do mercado monetário e dos mercados de futuros do ouro e prata na COMEX. Para lidar adequadamente com a natureza destas ameaças, ferramentas holísticas de supervisão reúnem registos (e-mail, conversas, voz, registos de transações etc.), descobrem correlações e fornecem um importante e credível resultado que por sua vez requer revisão por parte dos supervisores. O desafio para os supervisores do Front-Office é encontrar a proverbial "agulha no palheiro" - a combinação de e-mails, conversas, transações, registos de voz e outros relatórios - que deve ser sinalizada como atividade suspeita e analisada em conjunto com as equipas de Compliance e Anti-fraude

THE INFLUENCE OF ECO-CONTROL ON ENVIRONMENTAL AND ECONOMIC PERFORMANCE: A NATURAL RESOURCEBASED APPROACH

Alors qu'une littérature grandissante a examiné et démontré une influence directe de l'adoption des outils d'éco-contrôle sur la performance organisationnelle, peu de recherches ont tenté de comprendre la façon dont cette influence s'opérationnalise au sein des organisations. Se basant sur la Natural Resourced-Based View, l'objectif de cet article est d'ouvrir cette boite noire et d'examiner le potentiel des outils d'éco-contrôles à supporter les compétences environnementales et d'en analyser l'impact sur la performance environnementale et économique de l'organisation.Outis d'éco-contrôle, Natural resourcedbased view, compétences environnementales, systèmes de mesures de la performance environnementale, performance environnementale

Reforming the investment climate : lessons for practitioners

Most people agree that a good investment climate is essential for growth and poverty reduction. Less clear is how to achieve it. Many reforms are complex, involving more than technical design and content. They are both political, facing opposition from organized and powerful groups-and institutionally demanding, cutting across different departments and levels of government. Reform thus requires paying as much attention to understanding the politics and institutional dimensions as to policy substance, which is the goal of this paper. Drawing from more than 25 case studies, it shows that there is no single recipe or"manual"for reform, given diverse contexts and serendipity in any reform effort. But three broad lessons emerge. The first is to recognize and seize opportunities for reform. Crisis and new governments are important catalysts, but so is the competition generated by trade integration and new benchmarking information. The second is to invest early in the politics of reform. Central to this process is using education and persuasion strategies to gain wider acceptance and neutralize opponents. Pilot programs can be valuable for demonstrating the benefits and feasibility of change. And the third is to pay greater attention to implementation and monitoring. This does not require full scale public management reforms. Reformers can draw on private sector change management techniques to revitalize public institutions responsible for implementation. Given the cross-cutting nature of reform, new oversight mechanisms may be needed to monitor and sustain reform. The paper concludes with an emerging checklist for reformers and identifies areas for future work.Enterprise Development&Reform,Children and Youth,Economic Theory&Research,Population Policies,Markets and Market Access