Law Commons^™

The Fsa, Integrated Regulation, And The Curious Case Of Otc Derivatives, Dan Awrey

Cornell Law Faculty Publications

With a view to better understanding the optimal structure of financial regulation, this paper tests prevailing theoretical hypotheses respecting the efficiency and overall desirability of integrated financial regulation relative to competing institutional models. This test is conducted through the lens of a comparative case study examining the approaches adopted by (fragmented) U.S financial regulators and the (integrated) UK Financial Services Authority (FSA) toward the myriad of regulatory challenges posed by the emergence, growth, and systemic importance of over-the-counter (OTC) derivatives markets. More specifically, this paper examines why, despite the numerous theoretical advantages of integrated regulation, the FSA adopted a non-interventionist …

Regulating The Invisible: The Case Of Over-The-Counter Derivatives, Colleen M. Baker

Journal Articles

In this Article, I focus on the regulation of the over-the-counter (OTC) derivative markets. I argue that current reform proposals and draft legislation fall short of constructing the linked domestic and international frameworks needed to successfully regulate the OTC derivative markets. The purpose of my Article is to propose and defend such a framework. Because of the inseparability of the domestic and international aspects of this issue, I argue that in addition to increased prudential supervision and regulation, the regulation of OTC derivative markets requires interwoven domestic and international systems for regulatory cooperation. This recommendation has two parts. First, Congress …

Reframing Financial Regulation, Charles K. Whitehead

Cornell Law Faculty Publications

Financial regulation today is largely framed by traditional business categories. The financial markets, however, have begun to bypass those categories, principally over the last thirty years. Chief among the changes has been convergence in the products and services offered by traditional intermediaries and new market entrants, as well as a shift in capital-raising and risk-bearing from traditional intermediation to the capital markets. The result has been the reintroduction of old problems addressed by (but now beyond the reach of) current regulation, and the rise of new problems that reflect change in how capital and financial risk can now be managed …

Guilty By Association? Regulating Credit Default Swaps, Houman B. Shadab

Articles & Chapters

A wide range of U.S. policymakers initiated a series of actions in 2008 and 2009 to bring greater regulation and oversight to credit default swaps (CDSs) and other over-the-counter derivatives. The policymakers’ stated motivations echoed widely expressed criticisms of the regulation, characteristics, and practices of the CDS market, and focused on the risks of the instruments and the lack of public transparency over their utilization and execution. Certainly, the misuse of certain CDSs enabled mortgage-related security risk to become overconcentrated in some financial institutions.

Yet as the analysis in this Article suggests, failing to distinguish between CDS derivatives and the …

Introduction: The Market Meltdown Of 2008 And The Future Of Financial Reregulation [Article], Faith Stevelman

Articles & Chapters

No abstract provided.

Counterparty Regulation And Its Limits: The Evolution Of The Credit Default Swaps Market, Houman B. Shadab

Articles & Chapters

Over-the-counter (OTC) derivatives are widely regarded as “unregulated” financial instruments. While it is true that OTC derivatives are subject to relatively minimal federal regulation, OTC derivatives are in fact subject to a robust form of control and governance in the form of counterparty regulation. Counterparty regulation arises when two or more parties are continually exposed to counterparty credit risk for the duration of a long-term contract, and it consists of specific governance mechanisms such as the daily adjustment of collateral and the netting out of redundant trades. Counterparty regulation governs derivatives transactions but not securities transactions.

This essay reviews recent …