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From Conservatism to Revolution: British Stock Exchanges 1965–2005

Mark Thatcher

in Internationalisation and Economic Institutions:: Comparing the European Experience

Britain is treated separately because it had a different institutional starting point in the securities sector, reformed earlier and then influenced the other three countries, and followed a specific ... More

Britain is treated separately because it had a different institutional starting point in the securities sector, reformed earlier and then influenced the other three countries, and followed a specific ‘British reform path’. Between the mid-1960s and the early 1980s, despite pressures from transnational technological and economic developments, traditionalists in the London Stock Exchange successfully fought to retain their inheritance. However, the position changed greatly after the early 1980s. The LSE was transformed from a private British club into a listed company open to takeover. Reversing decades of self-regulation, powers were delegated to new independent financial regulatory authorities. Reforms were led by British state actors. They were triggered for domestic reasons, but thereafter, international factors became important, as British policy makers became concerned about regulatory competition from the US, and selectively used US reforms to justify changes. The chapter therefore shows the importance of US policies in the strategies of domestic policy makers and their legitimation of reforms.Less

Who Should Regulate What?

Ruben Lee

in Running the World's Markets: The Governance of Financial Infrastructure

The question of what regulatory authority over securities markets should be assigned to exchanges, central counterparties, and central securities depositories has long been controversial. This ... More

The question of what regulatory authority over securities markets should be assigned to exchanges, central counterparties, and central securities depositories has long been controversial. This chapter explores this issue in the broader context of examining how regulatory powers should be allocated between government regulators, self-regulatory organizations, and other types of regulatory institutions. The chapter is composed of three sections. In the first, the complexity of the decision as to how to allocate regulatory powers in a jurisdiction is discussed. The second section lists and analyzes crucial factors and constraints that affect the relative merits of allocating regulatory powers to different types of institutions. The last section encapsulates these discussions and presents in a simple and accessible manner key lessons about how best to allocate regulatory powers in the securities markets. In order to do so, nine general propositions are articulated.Less

Evolving Water Law for the Twenty-First Century

Philippe Cullet

in Water Law, Poverty, and Development: Water Sector Reforms in India

This chapter examines three of the main forms of water law reforms that have been and are being introduced in India. It first analyzes water user association legislation and the conceptual framework ... More

This chapter examines three of the main forms of water law reforms that have been and are being introduced in India. It first analyzes water user association legislation and the conceptual framework for participation and decentralization that the new acts propose. The second section considers institutional reforms and, in particular, the setting of independent water regulatory authorities called upon to take away some of the state's functions in the water sector. The third section examines groundwater legislation. This is the only major law reform which does not directly build on water sector reforms and in fact gives the government additional powers to regulate the use of groundwater. The analysis of these three reforms is followed by an overall analysis of these reforms.Less

Moving Backstage: Uncovering the Role of Compliance Practices in Shaping Regulatory Policy

N. Reichman

in A Reader on Regulation

This chapter explicates the business sector's influence on the definition and distribution of white-collar crime within specific regulatory contexts. It argues that business sectors influence the ... More

This chapter explicates the business sector's influence on the definition and distribution of white-collar crime within specific regulatory contexts. It argues that business sectors influence the distribution of white-collar crime not only through their influence on the enactment and administration of law, but also through their relative abilities to define what regulatory law is, how it is violated, and enforced. The chapter weaves a model of regulatory authority and its effect on regulatory policy and practice around the context of deal making in the securities industry.Less

Basic Telecom Services in India: From Monopoly to Oligopoly

Varadharajan Sridhar

in The Telecom Revolution in India: Technology, Regulation, and Policy

This chapter describes the specific characteristics of basic telecom services with their unique cost structure, tariff regulation, and their universal service obligations. India embarked on the ... More

This chapter describes the specific characteristics of basic telecom services with their unique cost structure, tariff regulation, and their universal service obligations. India embarked on the process of liberalization of the telecommunications sector in the early 1990s. The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India Act, 1997 was amended by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Amendment) Act, 2000. The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI)'s role should be strengthened from a purely recommending body to licensing and policymaking. High interconnect prices could force the entrant to suffer financial losses. The most important factor to govern the growth of telecom and especially universal service is affordability. Though the landline was considered as a technology for providing universal service, it failed to meet the needs of developing countries such as India. Indications are that wireless technologies will pave the way for broadband penetration and ubiquitous connectivity.Less

Conclusion: State Autonomy in Democratic Societies

Samuel DeCanio

in Democracy and the Origins of the American Regulatory State

This book has explored the origins of discretionary regulatory authority in federal bureaucracies, suggesting that it was a consequence of the regulatory debates that ensued when the Civil War came ... More

This book has explored the origins of discretionary regulatory authority in federal bureaucracies, suggesting that it was a consequence of the regulatory debates that ensued when the Civil War came to an end. It has shown that the American regulatory state was a reaction against populist agitation that focused first on monetary policy and then on railroad regulation. It has also considered how the Democratic Party's ideological shift led certain Republicans to endorse bureaucracy to insulate regulatory decisions from public opinion. This concluding chapter discusses the informational problems that existed in the nineteenth century and how they have been exacerbated by certain political conditions in contemporary America. Finally, it examines how voter ignorance and the vast scope of public decisions have resulted in state autonomy in democratic societies.Less

The Dimensions of Allocations of Authority

Alejandro E. Camacho and Robert L. Glicksman

in Reorganizing Government: A Functional and Dimensional Framework

This chapter analyzes the three key dimensions for characterizing the allocation of regulatory authority. The most frequently analyzed dimension, centralization/decentralization, focuses on the ... More

This chapter analyzes the three key dimensions for characterizing the allocation of regulatory authority. The most frequently analyzed dimension, centralization/decentralization, focuses on the scale(s) or level(s) of government-granted jurisdiction. The overlapping/distinct dimension considers the degree of overlap in governmental authority among multiple government bodies with concurrent jurisdictions. Two governmental entities have overlapping jurisdictions only to the extent that both their substantive and functional authority is concurrent. Finally, the coordinated/independent dimension, which uniquely focuses on the interaction between agencies, considers the extent to which authority is exercised independently or in coordination with other governmental entities. Coordination can vary in its degree of hierarchy and in its discretion, duration, frequency, and formality. Each dimension measures a particular component of regulatory authority, with each dimensional pole representing mostly different sets of policies and ultimately values tradeoffs over the appropriate design for managing social problems. The chapter thus explores the potential advantages and disadvantages of situating or shifting agency authority at each end of the spectrum represented by each dimension.Less

Globalization, finance, and economic nationalism: the changing role of the state in Japan

Takaaki Suzuki

in Globalization and Economic Nationalism in Asia

This chapter explores how economic nationalism in Japan has changed in the last 30 years and where it might be heading in the future. It looks at state intervention, which Japan has perfected by ... More

This chapter explores how economic nationalism in Japan has changed in the last 30 years and where it might be heading in the future. It looks at state intervention, which Japan has perfected by deftly combining state action with large private corporations. However, prolonged stagnation since the late 1980s condemned this approach and replaced it with neoliberal policies. This chapter counterintuitively argues that despite scaling back the role of the state in many economic regulatory and welfare-related areas actually increased. Relying on financial and macroeconomic policies since the early 1980s, the chapter shows that globalization and financial liberalization were accompanied by the creation of several powerful state-backed institutions entrusted with substantial financial resources and a wide range of regulatory authority that go well beyond what is deemed “prudential regulatory” safeguards. However, such policies consistent with economic nationalism failed to deliver on its promises of growth and social stability.Less

The Rise of Private Regulation in the World Economy

Tim Büthe and Walter Mattli

in The New Global Rulers: The Privatization of Regulation in the World Economy

This book examines the delegation of regulatory authority from governments to a single international private-sector body by focusing on three powerful global private regulators, or focal rule-making ... More

This book examines the delegation of regulatory authority from governments to a single international private-sector body by focusing on three powerful global private regulators, or focal rule-making institutions: the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB), the International Organization for Standardization (ISO), and the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC). The book shows how the simultaneous privatization and internationalization of governance is driven, in part, by governments' lack of requisite technical expertise, financial resources, or flexibility to deal expeditiously with ever more complex and urgent regulatory tasks. Its main argument is that technical expertise and financial resources are necessary but not sufficient conditions for successful involvement in global private-sector standardization. To make its case, the book explores global private regulation in global financial and product markets.Less

How Vital Is Regulatory Independence? The Telecom Sector in Developing Countries

Pradeep S Mehta, Siddhartha Mitra, and Udai S Mehta

in Reforming Rules and Regulations: Laws, Institutions, and Implementation

This chapter examines the effects of regulatory independence on ultimate outcomes such as investment, physical capacity, and facilities for consumers. It focuses on the telecom sector, specifically ... More

This chapter examines the effects of regulatory independence on ultimate outcomes such as investment, physical capacity, and facilities for consumers. It focuses on the telecom sector, specifically case studies of three countries that have undergone major changes in regulatory independence in the recent years—India, South Africa, and Sri Lanka. The chapter is organized as follows. Section 7.2 discusses the evolution of the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) and identifies the circumstances leading to its independence. Section 7.3 considers the effects of TRAI's independence on the telecommunication sector's performance. Section 7.4 reviews the relationship between regulatory independence and performance in the telecom sectors of Sri Lanka, Jamaica, and South Africa, and Section 7.5 concludes.Less

Discretion and the Treasury Department

Samuel DeCanio

in Democracy and the Origins of the American Regulatory State

This chapter examines the Panic of 1873 and its political implications for the Republican Party and the Treasury Department. More specifically, it shows how the Republican defeat in the congressional ... More

This chapter examines the Panic of 1873 and its political implications for the Republican Party and the Treasury Department. More specifically, it shows how the Republican defeat in the congressional elections of 1874 led some Republicans to empower the Treasury Department with new forms of regulatory authority. Focusing on the Specie Resumption Act of 1875, the chapter considers the decision of Republicans such as John Sherman and George Edmunds to delegate monetary policy to the Treasury Department after suffering devastating losses in the midterm election of 1874. It argues that the delegation of policy authority to the Treasury Department was a political maneuver in which federal bureaucrats were granted discretion over the money supply in order to insulate the Republicans from electoral retribution.Less

Introduction

Alexander Somek

in Individualism: An Essay on the Authority of the European Union

The introductory chapter provides a summary overview of the whole book.

The Continental Tradition of Public Service

Tony Prosser

in The Limits of Competition Law: Markets and Public Services

This chapter outlines the principles of the French law of service public and the Italian law of servizio pubblico. It reveals that public service law in France has developed at a high level of ... More

This chapter outlines the principles of the French law of service public and the Italian law of servizio pubblico. It reveals that public service law in France has developed at a high level of principle and has recently been more adapted for the liberal markets. A similar process has taken place in Italy and Italian independent regulatory authorities have assumed considerable importance in the reconciliation of public service values and competitive markets.Less

Modalities of Institutional and Organizational Changes

Christine Léon de Mariz, Claude Ménard, and Bernard Abeillé

in Public Procurement Reforms in Africa: Challenges in Institutions and Governance

The ultimate objective of public procurement reforms is, or pretends to be, the modification of institutions that frame human interactions in the context of procurement. Reforms should target the ... More

The ultimate objective of public procurement reforms is, or pretends to be, the modification of institutions that frame human interactions in the context of procurement. Reforms should target the conditions under which contracts are prepared and negotiated, and how they are implemented and monitored. This effort involves changing the legal framework, the procedures and practices supporting public procurement, the organizational arrangements through which rules and contracts are carried out, and the implementation of anti-corruption measures. Through a careful examination of these changes and their expected results, this chapter emphasizes that in sub-Saharan countries reformers have focused on ex-ante conditions, i.e. changes in the prevailing legal framework and procedures. The actual implementation and performance of these changes tell another story. Of particular significance in our view is the neglect of resources required to build capabilities and the capacity and legitimacy to sanction deviations.Less

Substantive and Functional Jurisdiction

Alejandro E. Camacho and Robert L. Glicksman

in Reorganizing Government: A Functional and Dimensional Framework

This chapter identifies the different types of regulatory or management authority vested in agencies by legislatures or executive branch officials. Each allocation of regulatory authority has a ... More

This chapter identifies the different types of regulatory or management authority vested in agencies by legislatures or executive branch officials. Each allocation of regulatory authority has a substantive as well as a functional component. This chapter introduces the distinction between substantive jurisdiction, the subject matter a governmental institution is authorized to regulate or manage, and functional jurisdiction, the various administrative functions an agency performs. Functional jurisdiction categories include funding; research, data generation, and ambient monitoring; information compilation and distribution; information analysis; planning; standard setting; implementation and permitting; inspection and compliance monitoring; and enforcement. Affording attention to functional jurisdiction, in addition to substantive jurisdiction, provides insights about the policy and value tradeoffs among available options for allocating government authority that may otherwise be obscured.Less

Regulating Financial Planners: Assessing the Current System and Some Alternatives 1

Jason Bromberg and Alicia P. Cackley

in The Market for Retirement Financial Advice

This chapter reviews US federal and state regulation of financial planners, and it also addresses concerns related to consumer confusion over the standards of care that planners provide and the ... More

This chapter reviews US federal and state regulation of financial planners, and it also addresses concerns related to consumer confusion over the standards of care that planners provide and the titles, designations, and certifications that they use. We discuss the advantages and disadvantages of some alternative regulatory approaches, and conclude that an additional layer of regulation specific to financial planners may not be warranted at this time.Less

The Closure of Cum-Ex and the Aftermath

Richard S Collier

in Banking on Failure: Cum-Ex and Why and How Banks Game the System

This chapter deals with the closing of the cum-ex trade in Germany from 2012 and its aftermath. It explains how the trade came to be challenged and ultimately (after various failed attempts) ... More

This chapter deals with the closing of the cum-ex trade in Germany from 2012 and its aftermath. It explains how the trade came to be challenged and ultimately (after various failed attempts) successfully defeated by the authorities by means of a fundamental—yet simple—modification of the rules governing the obligation to apply dividend withholding tax. It then outlines the ongoing response to the cum-ex trade by the German tax authorities and its impact. The chapter also deals with the other aspects of the fallout from the cum-ex trade, including the German parliamentary enquiry into the trade and the impact on so-called ‘cum-cum’ trades. Besides the actions within Germany, there have also been developments in other countries, and the chapter considers these with reference to Austria and Denmark. The chapter ends by considering possible future developments, predicting that it will be years before the full effects of the cum-ex affair are finally clear.Less

Institutional Framework and Management

Philippe Cullet and Sujith Koonan (eds)

in Water Law in India: An Introduction to Legal Instruments

This chapter focuses on the institutional framework for water in India that has the presence of a number of institutions organized horizontally and vertically. The first section of the chapter ... More

This chapter focuses on the institutional framework for water in India that has the presence of a number of institutions organized horizontally and vertically. The first section of the chapter explains the different models adopted by different states to create drinking water utilities. While water institutions are generally created on a sectoral basis, a recent trend has been to set up independent water regulatory authorities mainly to look after sectoral allocation and regulation of pricing. In this context, the second section reproduces one of the earliest and one of the very few laws to set up an independent water regulatory authority that is actually in force. The third section brings in legal instruments to set up institutions that promote private sector participation in a number of sectors including the water supply sector.Less