Integrated, consolidated or specialized financial markets supervisors: Is there an optimal solution?

Abstract

The article discusses the issue of the financial market supervision in its institutional context and explores its various dimensions. Its intention is to review the origins and directions of institutional restructuring of the supervision taking place in the last 15 years and to discuss its opportunities and threats. The actual debate is preceded by an analysis of recent financial market trends as well as regulatory and supervisory developments. The message of the article is that there are no ideal supervisory models and each jurisdiction has to find its own way. In doing so, it should always care for the preservation of the most critical properties of the supervisory system: its independence, accountability, transparency, integrity and market responsiveness. © 2007 The International Association for the Study of Insurance Economics.