Kern Alexander

University of Zurich | UZH · Faculty of Law

The New European Central Bank features an edited collection on a retrospective and prospective account of the European Central Bank (ECB) and its evolution. The ECB was introduced in the European legal order on the occasion of the Treaty of Maastricht in 1992. However, the ECB in modern times differs from its 1998 inception with regards to its mone...

This report analyses the European Central bank's mandate in light of its primary objective of price stability along with its secondary objective to support the general economic policies in the Union (Article 127 TFEU), which include employment, growth, climate change, and the quality of the environment, bearing in mind the broader goals of sustaina...

Presenting a sweeping analysis of the legal foundations, institutions, and substantive legal issues in EU monetary integration, The EU Law of Economic and Monetary Union serves as an authoritative reference on the legal framework of European economic and monetary union. The book opens by setting out the broader contexts for the European project - h...

Cambridge Core - Finance and Accountancy - Principles of Banking Regulation - by Kern Alexander

The chapter analyses the European Central Bank’s supervisory role for banking institutions in the Single Supervisory Mechanism. It does so by analysing the legal basis in the EU Treaty for the creation of the SSM and its institutional effectiveness to conduct banking supervision. It discusses the EU institutional and legal context of the Banking Un...

This chapter analyses macro-prudential regulation from an international perspective with particular focus on the role of the Financial Stability Board in addressing macro-prudential financial risks. In doing so, it discusses how prudential financial regulation has evolved from an almost exclusive focus on the micro-prudential regulation of individu...

International policymakers have identified the over-the-counter (OTC) derivatives markets as a source of systemic risk and market abuse. Although the OTC derivatives markets have been a source of financial innovation enabling counterparties to hedge and more effectively manage their risk exposures, they have also allowed market participants to take...

The article analyses recent developments in the regulation of the institutional structure of banking groups in the European Union. It discusses the evolution of the universal banking model in Europe and how the global banking crisis of 2007–2009 has led to structural regulatory reforms of the European banking industry. Particular attention is paid...

This article analyses some of the issues related to the financial stability risks associated with the European Commission's Green Paper on Capital Markets Union (CMU). The CMU proposal offers the potential for a more balanced and efficient provision of credit in EU capital markets through non-bank financial intermediaries that should enhance econom...

This article analyses the EU legal and institutional structure of the Single Supervisory Mechanism (SSM) and the Single Resolution Mechanism (SRM) of the European Banking Union (EBU). The Banking Union represents an unprecedented transfer of sovereignty from participating Member States to an EU institution for conducting banking supervision and for...

The global financial crisis and subsequent sovereign debt crisis in Europe demonstrated that the relationship between law and economics in the design of the monetary system must be revisited. International monetary affairs are usually conducted via domestic monetary policies which are formulated by independent central banks and informed mainly by e...

The article analyses the rationale of credit ratings in financial market regulation with a specific focus on bank capital regulation. Specifically, it traces the development of external credit ratings in bank capital regulation and in particular how they became a major component of Basel II. In doing so, it reviews how ratings were used in the stru...

The G20 has become the preeminent international economic and financial policy making body in the aftermath of the global financial crisis of 2007-2009. In the early phase of the financial crisis, the G20 made considerable progress with its measures to stabilize the global economy (London Summit of 2009). However, its subsequent initiatives have not...

The chapter analyzes how certain technological advances in securities and derivatives trading have escaped European Union market abuse and trade execution regulation. It analyzes how algorithmic trading and high-frequency trading can undermine market integrity and financial stability. Specifically, it discusses how the European Union and United Kin...

The article analyses some of the legal and economic policy issues concerning proposals to establish a European Banking Union. It discusses the role of the European Central Bank as a bank supervisor and the creation of the Single Supervisory Mechanism (SSM). The article then critically analyses the draft Directive on Bank Recovery and Resolution (RR...

The story goes that tuition voucher schools and charter schools are creatures of the spirit of capitalism1 and that public funding of them will increase competition, making all schools more efficient and academically better, especially public schools. For that theory to work it is hypothesized that parents as “rational people will make choices as t...

Editorial comment suggesting that an international solution is required, potentially through the cooperation of OECD states to ensure minimum standards of financial reporting for publicly listed companies and appropriate codes of practice for auditors who advise them. Brief comment by Dr Kern Alexander (Butterworths Senior Research Fellow, Internat...

Dr Kern Alexander (Butterworths Senior Research Fellow, International Financial Regulation, and Postgraduate Tutor in Law, Institute of Advanced Legal Studies) assesses the importance of elections to the US Congress in 2002 and the influence of Senators on the agenda pursued by the administration of President George W. Bush and United States polici...

Professors Kern Alexander and John Eatwell analyse the eff ectiveness and feasibility of some of the main proposals for fi nancial taxes by examining their economic rationale and impact on fi nancial markets. The chapter argues that fi nancial transaction taxes, especially those applied to currency transactions and exchange-traded derivatives, coul...

This article considers the effectiveness of Basel II and Basel III as international standards of banking regulation and examines how international financial regulation should be rebuilt post the financial crisis. The article argues that international efforts at macro-prudential regulation have so far been inadequate and reflect in part inadequate i...

Article by Professor Kern Alexander considering the current and potential role of European Union institutions in the supervision of European financial markets, in the light of the financial crisis 2007-2009 and increasingly integrated financial markets. Published in Amicus Curiae - Journal of the Society for Advanced Legal Studies. The Journal is p...

EU policymakers have created a new European System of Financial Supervision, consisting of three European Supervisory Authorities and a European Systemic Risk Board. This article examines some of the legal and institutional issues, including the ESAs’ authority to develop an EU code of financial regulation and to oversee its implementation by Membe...

This paper examines the legislative and regulatory proposals by the United States and the European Commission to increase regulation of the over-thecounter derivatives (OTC) market by requiring more OTC derivatives to be traded on exchanges and electronic trading platforms and to shift the clearing of these instruments away from opaque bilateral st...

This article examines the effectiveness and feasibility of some of the main proposals for financial taxes by analysing their economic rationale and impact and some related international trade law issues regarding their implementation. The advantages and disadvantages are considered in terms of their effect on risk mitigation, market liquidity and t...

The global response to the financial crisis has included the establishment of bodies specifically dedicated to the task of overseeing systemic risk. The European Systemic Risk Board (ESRB) is part of this trend. The ESRB, established by a Regulation adopted in November 2010 and operational from January 2011, is an innovative EU body that occupies a...

The financial crisis that began in 2007 as a liquidity crisis for banks has transformed itself into a sovereign debt crisis that threatens the viability of the eurozone and the foundations of the European Union. In this study, we analyse some of the recent regulatory initiatives in response to the crisis and their implications for the EU financial...

The paper’s purpose is to address the economic, institutional, and legal issues confronting the establishment of a more centralised approach to EU securities regulation and to suggest that the theory of optimum currency areas can be used as a model to assess the economic benefits and costs of further centralisation of securities regulation in the E...

The WTO General Agreement on Trade in Services and its Annex on Financial Services provide the international legal framework for the regulation of cross-border trade in financial services. This paper analyses some of the main provisions of the GATS and the Annex on Financial Services to determine its impact on domestic financial regulation and whet...

The globalisation of banking markets has raised important issues regarding corporate governance regulation for banking institutions. This research paper addresses some of the major issues of corporate governance as it relates to banking regulation. The traditional principal-agent framework will be used to analyse some of the major issues involving...

The European Business Organization Law Review presents three articles, by Schwarcz, Kane and Mayes, analysing some of the main issues regarding principles versus rules in financial regulation. These articles result from papers presented at a symposium in April 2008 entitled ‘Principles v. Rules in Financial Regulation’ organised by the Centre for F...

A bank resolution regime requires regulators to have the authority and instruments to restructure a bank's operations if its failure threatens the stability of the financial system or undermines other regulatory objectives, such as depositor confidence. Such regulatory action, however, may affect shareholder rights in the restructured bank and poss...

The use of economic sanctions has throughout history been an integral component of the foreign policy of most nation-states. Nations have relied on economic sanctions not only to influence foreign policy and national security objectives but also to respond to domestic political needs and economic pressures. In antiquity and in early modern Europe,...

The chapter generally examines the evolving structure of the modern international economic system and foreign exchange markets and some of the main economic theories which have driven its development and the implications for public policy regarding the application of economic sanctions. The chapter argues that the design of economic sanctions instr...

Targeted financial sanctions have become the policy of choice for developed countries that seek to limit collateral economic and social costs that broader economic sanctions programmes cause. Financial sanctions usually take the form of asset freezes, blocking orders, and restrictions on foreign exchange and fund transfers. They can be targeted spe...

The World Trade Organization (WTO) General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS) and its Annex on Financial Services provide the international legal framework for the regulation of cross-border trade in financial services. This paper analyses the main provisions of the GATS that relate to regulatory transparency of trade in financial services. The...

The EU Financial Markets Dialogue led by the SEC and the European Commission has achieved some notable successes, particularly with respect to the consolidated supervision of financial conglomerates and the development of a plan to achieve convergence in corporate financial reporting. On both sides of the Atlantic, there is a clear ongoing commitme...

The Transatlantic Financial Markets Dialogue led by the SEC and the European Commission has achieved some notable successes, particularly with respect to the consolidated supervision of financial conglomerates and the development of a plan to achieve convergence in corporate financial reporting. On both sides of the Atlantic there is a clear ongoin...

The purpose of this paper is to analyse some of the important issues concerning the corporate governance of banks and financial institutions and the related issues of financial regulation. The paper argues that corporate governance of banks is largely concerned with reducing the social costs of bank risk-taking and that the regulator is uniquely po...

The book sets forth the economic rationale for international financial regulation and what role, if any, international regulation can play in effectively managing systemic risk while providing accountability to all affected nations. The book suggests that a particular type of global governance structure is necessary to have more efficient regulatio...

THE financial crises that spread through East Asia, Russia and Latin America in the late 1990s have led to renewed calls for reform of the “international financial architecture” that would involve legal and institutional changes for the regulation of international financial markets. Since the end of the Bretton Woods system in the early 1970s, ther...

The Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (FSMA) provides the statutory framework for the new UK market abuse regime, which became effective on 1 December 2001. The FSMA market abuse regime provides new powers to the Financial Services Authority (FSA) to sanction anyone who engages in 'market abuse', that is misuse of information, misleading prac...

The limited liability partnership has been heralded as a cost-effective way of doing business for professional firms that seek to reduce the personal liability risk of partners who are not directly involved in negligent acts or wrongdoing. The LLP business form has been adopted by all US states and has proved widely popular for lawyers and accounta...

The need for international regulation of financial markets became apparent in the mid-1970s in response to the post-Bretton Woods liberalisation of financial markets. The elimination of the fixed exchange rate parity with gold resulted in the privatisation of financial risk, which created pressure to eliminate controls on cross-border capital movem...

This paper examines the need for international regulation of financial markets and suggests the possible role that a global financial supervisor might play in providing effective regulation of international financial markets. The first part discusses the nature of systemic risk in the international financial system and the necessity for internation...

The threat of systemic risk in international financial markets necessitates the establishment of universal standards for corporate governance of financial institutions. This paper addresses some important issues and concepts in the governance of multinational financial institutions and why international standards are needed to guide financial insti...

Traditionally, securities were held, traded, and settled in direct holding systems in which owners of securities were either recorded on the issuer's register or were in physical possession of bearer securities certificates. Today, most-publicly traded securities are recorded electronically on the books of a financial intermediary, which in turn ho...

The process of legalization and the role of international soft law in developing international banking supervisory standards are extremely important for assessing the feasibility of establishing effective international rules for banking supervision. This paper analyses the concept of legalization at the international level and how it may be applied...

This paper analyses the emerging international supervisory regime for banking institutions that operate on a transnational basis. It focuses on the basle framework as an institutional regime of norms and principles that govern international financial relations amongst the g10 countries. This paper argues that the basle committee on banking supervis...

The Cuban Liberty and Democratic Solidarity Act (the Act) provides for extraterritorial jurisdiction and sanctions against foreign companies which traffic in confiscated US-owned Cuban property. The Act provides US nationals with a private right of action in US courts against foreign companies which benefit from the use of confiscated property. The...

On 12th March, 1996, President Clinton signed into law the Cuban Liberty and Democratic Solidarity Act. The Act, better known as the Helms-Burton bill, intends to increase pressure on the Castro regime by tightening the 35-year-old US trade embargo against Cuba. Title III of the Act permits US nationals whose property was expropriated without compe...