The Financial Industry in the New Regulatory Landscape

The financial market outlook and risks as well as the impact of regulatory reforms on the financial sector were the topics discussed at the October 2011 OECD Financial Roundtable. Concerns about the current situation in financial markets were centred on the sovereign debt and banking crisis in Europe and its repercussions in other parts of the world. Many participants felt that policy makers had not been doing enough to address the crisis and that bold action and ‘circuit breakers’ to stop the negative feedback loops were needed to restore market confidence. Regarding regulation, while the financial industry broadly expressed support for Basel III reforms, some elements like the SIFI surcharge were criticised. The industry was also sceptical regarding the benefits of separation of banks’ businesses (Volcker rule, Vickers proposal) and broadly rejected the EU proposal of a financial transaction tax. While policy makers regarded some of the industry’s regulatory concerns as valid, they stressed the aim of regulatory reforms to make the financial sector safer, thus making downsizing of a certain kind of financial intermediation unavoidable. But the right balance needs to be found in terms of the extent and the timing of regulatory reforms; downsizing in the current situation should perhaps be encouraged less quickly in some cases.