The future of regulation

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to analyse the regulatory and other responses to the recent credit crisis with particular emphasis upon likely regulatory reform. Design/methodology/approach - The paper is based upon an analysis of recent papers, speeches and articles to draw together common themes for regulatory reform across the European Union (EU). It pays particular attention to two key papers, that from the Chairman of the UK Financial Services Authority (The Turner Report) and from the senior EU Group, the de Larosiere Report. Findings - It is suggested that some nine or ten common themes emerge for regulatory reform from the many authoritative writings on the subject and that the timeframe for change is very likely to be much shorter that is the norm for international action. However, some areas of debate are noted, for example, how the role of national vs international regulators is to be resolved. Practical implications - All regulated financial services firms, whether banks or not, should expect a far higher level of regulatory intervention and with change occurring more quickly that would normally be expected. Originality/value - In pulling together and analysing most of what has been written to date on the topic of regulatory reform the paper gives a unique overview of likely future developments. By identifying common themes it shows regulated firms the areas where more intervention is most likely to occur and highlights the timescale for that.