The final volcker rule and its impact across the atlantic: The shaping of extraterritoriality in a world of dynamic structural banking reforms

Abstract

The Volcker Rule could potentially apply to the global structure of a foreign bank with US branches or any business of foreign banks with US counterparties. Concerns of an adverse extraterritorial impact-while mitigated in the implementing regulations-still matter. This Chapter, in considering the different approaches adopted by the United States and the European Union toward extraterritoriality, emphasizes the fact that, even when there is no global standard, mutual recognition based on equivalence would be a slow, complex process toward harmonization, but it might work. The purpose of this Chapter is to explore the prospects of harmonization and the development of global standards via extraterritoriality in banking structural measures, providing a view on the role national regulations as potential source of international financial law.