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A critical assessment of the European approach to financial reforms

Author

Listed:
  • Elisabetta Montanaro

    (University of Siena)

  • Mario Tonveronachi

    (University of Siena)

Abstract

The paper offers a critical assessment of the financial reforms adopted or proposed at the European level. The reshaping of the EU institutional architecture and the adoption of the new Basel 3 rules should reduce the national margins of discretion that have up to now characterised supervisory practices, often leading to light touch supervision, and restrain the growth of bankarisation, hence excessive systemic leveraging. However, the limitations of a purely prudential approach to regulation may not be overcome by setting up new institutions and make prudential requirements more stringent. In addition, given unavoidable national banking specificities, more severe rulebooks homogenously applied across the EU countries could further worsen the inconsistencies of a one-size-fits-all rule. The criticisms directed at the new regulatory framework assume particular relevance in the EU, whose peculiar construction requires that the financial sector should not be permitted to jeopardise its critical fiscal equilibrium. This opens the way to the adoption of structural measures, as the one presented by the Vickers Commission on ring-fencing. Looking at the financial system as a whole, we argue that even these measures do not offer effective protection for the economy and tax-payers, and that much more radical interventions are needed.

Suggested Citation

  • Elisabetta Montanaro & Mario Tonveronachi, 2011. "A critical assessment of the European approach to financial reforms," PSL Quarterly Review, Economia civile, vol. 64(258), pages 193-226.
  • Handle: RePEc:psl:pslqrr:2011:32
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    File URL: http://ojs.uniroma1.it/index.php/PSLQuarterlyReview/article/view/9409/9304
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Mr. Luc Laeven & Mr. Fabian Valencia, 2010. "Resolution of Banking Crises: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly," IMF Working Papers 2010/146, International Monetary Fund.
    2. Leena Mörttinen & Paolo Poloni & Patrick Sandars & Jukka Vesala, 2005. "Analysing banking sector conditions - how to use macro-prudential indicators," Occasional Paper Series 26, European Central Bank.
    3. Demirgüç-Kunt, Asli & Huizinga, Harry, 2010. "Bank activity and funding strategies: The impact on risk and returns," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 98(3), pages 626-650, December.
    4. Vesala, Jukka & Poloni, Paolo & Mörttinen, Leena & Sandars, Patrick, 2005. "Analysing banking sector conditions - How to use macro-prudential indicators," Occasional Paper Series 26, European Central Bank.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Egert Juuse & Rainer Kattel, 2014. "Financial Regulation in Estonia," Working papers wpaper57, Financialisation, Economy, Society & Sustainable Development (FESSUD) Project.
    2. Antonio Bianco, 2015. "Shadow banking, relationship banking, and the economics of depression," PSL Quarterly Review, Economia civile, vol. 68(275), pages 297-326.
    3. Mario Tonveronachi, 2020. "Ages of Financial Instability," Economics Working Paper Archive wp_947, Levy Economics Institute.
    4. Elisabetta Montanaro, 2016. "The process towards centralisation of the European financial supervisory architecture: The case of the Banking Union," PSL Quarterly Review, Economia civile, vol. 69(277), pages 135-172.
    5. Alessandro Roncaglia, 2011. "Introduction," PSL Quarterly Review, Economia civile, vol. 64(258), pages 189-191.
    6. Casselmann, Farina, 2013. "Financial services regulation in the wake of the crisis: The Capital Requirements Directive IV and the Capital Requirements Regulation," IPE Working Papers 18/2013, Berlin School of Economics and Law, Institute for International Political Economy (IPE).

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    financial reforms; European Union; Basel 3; Vickers Commission; ring-fencing;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • G21 - Financial Economics - - Financial Institutions and Services - - - Banks; Other Depository Institutions; Micro Finance Institutions; Mortgages
    • G28 - Financial Economics - - Financial Institutions and Services - - - Government Policy and Regulation
    • E6 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Macroeconomic Policy, Macroeconomic Aspects of Public Finance, and General Outlook

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