Is Meta-Regulation All It's Cracked Up to Be? The Case of UK Financial Regulation
Journal of Banking Regulation (2013) 14(1), 16-32
30 Pages Posted: 27 Sep 2013
Date Written: 2013
Abstract
One of the key components of regulatory regimes is the approach that the regulator adopts towards the supervision of the regulated. Regulators are therefore always looking for supervisory approaches that can increase compliance, by the regulated, with the requirements of the regulatory regime. Meta-regulation is one approach which has gained popularity in recent years. This article looks closely at the issues that arise when the regulated are closely involved in the regulatory process as a result of the use of meta-regulation. The article argues that the use of meta-regulation in the supervision of regulated firms is not unproblematic. The article uses the failures in UK financial regulation in the run-up to the global financial crisis as case-studies to illustrate some of the problems that can arise with the use of meta-regulation, and analyses some of the proposals for reforming UK financial regulation so as to overcome these problems.
Keywords: compliance, global financial crisis, meta-regulation, regulatory process, supervision, Northern Rock, Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS)
Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation