Financial regulation

rules or restrictions for financial institutions

Financial regulation is supervision of financial institutions to certain rules and guidelines.

The aim is to keep the financial system honest and legal. Regulation may be done by either a government or non-government organization. Also, financial regulation has increased the variety of financial products available.

In the early modern period, the Dutch were the pioneers in financial regulation.[1] The first recorded regulation was a ban on short selling done by the Dutch authorities in 1610.[2]

Aims change

The objectives of financial regulators are usually:[3]

  • market confidence – to keep confidence in the financial system
  • financial stability
  • consumer protection – getting the right protection for consumers.

References change

  1. Clement, Piet; James, Harold; Van der Wee, Herman (eds) 2014. Financial innovation, regulation and crises in history. Routledge. ISBN 9781848935044)
  2. Selling securities that are not currently owned (usually borrowed), and then repurchasing them ("covering") as prices fall.
  3. UK FSA statutory objectives, archived from the original on 2017-07-07, retrieved 2018-02-20