Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Notes on contributors
- Preface
- List of abbreviations
- Introduction: the regulatory dilemma in international financial relations
- PART I An historical perspective
- PART II A comparative perspective
- PART III A public international law perspective
- PART IV An institutional perspective
- 9 The European Central Bank as regulator and as institutional actor
- 10 The Basle Committee on Banking Supervision – a secretive club of giants?
- 11 Strengthening the international financial architecture: contribution by the IMF and World Bank
- PART V A policy perspective
- Conclusions and agenda for further research
- Index
9 - The European Central Bank as regulator and as institutional actor
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 08 July 2009
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Notes on contributors
- Preface
- List of abbreviations
- Introduction: the regulatory dilemma in international financial relations
- PART I An historical perspective
- PART II A comparative perspective
- PART III A public international law perspective
- PART IV An institutional perspective
- 9 The European Central Bank as regulator and as institutional actor
- 10 The Basle Committee on Banking Supervision – a secretive club of giants?
- 11 Strengthening the international financial architecture: contribution by the IMF and World Bank
- PART V A policy perspective
- Conclusions and agenda for further research
- Index
Summary
Introduction: the Treaty basis
During the 1990s European financial institutions experienced far-reaching regulatory reform. In contributing to a stable macroeconomic environment, the EMU adds another building block to strengthen the financial system. With monetary policy at the European level, macroeconomic disturbances can be reduced and the stability of the financial system reinforced.
The European Central Bank (ECB) together with the European System of Central Banks (ESCB) are not only the focal point of the EMU but they are also essential for the functioning of Europe's financial markets. While London has remained and will remain a global and European financial centre, the ECSB and the ECB as well as the EMU have become important for the functioning of this and other centres as part of international financial markets. This was already foreseen immediately after the decision on the EMU as can be illustrated by reference to a speech by Ian Plenderleith, then Executive Director, Bank of England, at a conference organised by the International Center for Monetary and Banking Studies in November 1997. Plenderleith argued:
‘I believe EMU will open up new opportunities for the financial markets. I believe this will be particularly so for the international markets in London. We intend to be ready to take full advantage of these opportunities … even though the UK will not participate in EMU at that stage … London is the major European financial market, and we think that extending its activity to include financial services in euro is a significant contribution we … can make from the outset to the success of the monetary union …’
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- The Regulation of International Financial MarketsPerspectives for Reform, pp. 209 - 223Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2006