Chapter 2 - Regulatory Environment of Financial Institutions

Abstract

Financial regulations are laws and rules that govern financial institutions. Regulations of financial institutions focus on providing stability to the financial system, fair competition, consumer protection, and prevention and reduction of financial crimes. By the mid-1970s, the global financial system witnessed market-oriented reforms that led to liberalization in the financial system, such as the reduction of interest rate controls, removal of investment restrictions on financial institutions and a line of business restrictions, and control on international capital movements. The modern trend observed is that financial sector regulation is moving toward a greater cross-sector integration of financial supervision. In 1998, the adoption of the Basel Accord, which required international banks to attain an 8% capital adequacy ratio was a major significant milestone in banking regulations. The collapse of the global financial system that led to the global crisis can be attributed to the systemic failure of financial regulation. Basel I defined bank capital and bank capital ratio based on two-tier systems. The Basel II framework consisted of Part 1, the scope of application and three pillars, the first one being minimum capital requirements, the second one a supervisory review process, and the third pillar is market discipline. The Basel III framework prepared new capital and liquidity requirements for banks.