Financial Stability, the Basel Process and the New Geography of Regulation
Posted: 4 Jul 2009
Date Written: July 2009
Abstract
The post-Bretton Woods era has witnessed the integration of the global financial system at an unprecedented pace. However, much of its institutional governance structure remains hinged on the old paradigm of national economies. Despite highly globalized financial markets, I find evidence of substantial clustering in the context of regional financial activity. Addressing the regulatory challenges of globalization, the so-called ‘Basel Process’ provides policy makers with a unique institutional arrangement that straddles the gap between the old and the new geographies of financial markets. The evolving architecture of the global financial system calls for a careful balancing of globally co-ordinated, locally decentralized regulation on the one hand and effective, centralized intervention mechanisms on the other hand.
Keywords: financial stability, Basel Process, geography of regulation, international financial architecture, Basel II
JEL Classification: G18, G28, E42
Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation