History and convergence of financial regulation

The history of financial regulation can be perceived through the lens of regulatory convergence achieved in this area. This chapter shows the evolution of financial regulation exactly from the perspective of advancing harmonization of such rules. It follows the regulatory developments after the American Civil War, the two World Wars, the Great Depression, but also after financial events such as the Herstatt collapse, the savings and loans crisis or the Global Financial Crisis. Finally, it analyses the regulatory reactions to current global issues, be it the pandemic, climate change or the rapid expansion of new technologies in finance. The findings confirm the main premise of this contribution: that global convergence of financial regulation prevails in the aftermath of financial events, whereas non-financial crises incentivize regulators to focus on domestic legal regimes, abandoning attempts at international coordination.