European Union and the Global Financial Crisis

The European Union banking and securities legislation immediately before the global financial crisis is described in detail. Two significant inputs to the post-crisis legislation are considered in this book - the international regulatory response through the Group of Twenty (G20) countries and the Financial Services Board, and the European Supervisory Authorities - which comprise the European Banking Authority, a European Securities and Markets Authority and a European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority. Aspects of the post-crisis securities and banking legislation are described - with a comparison made with the pre-crisis legislation, in places in which this is possible. The securities legislation, in particular, has shown a considerable increase in its volume and contents in the last few years, and some of these provisions are reported and discussed. The final chapter considers the European Commission's plans for the completion of the Economic and Monetary Union, from the British perspective in light of the speech made by the then British Prime Minister, the Right Honourable Margaret Thatcher MP, at Bruges in September 1988. The global financial crisis exposed vulnerabilities in the Economic and Monetary Union, which the Commission is attempting to address with plans for further integration. It is not clear that this is wholly in the interests of Europe's citizens.