Schattenbankwesen – Anstrengungen einer Regulierung

Abstract

With the beginning of the financial crisis the discussion of the lack of detection of non-banking financial market participants that may create systemic risks, again flared up. Paul McCulley, former managing director of investment company PIMCO, coined for these phenomena the slogan „shadow banking system“ and understood it „the whole alphabet soup of levered up non-bank investment conduits, vehicles, and structures.“ The activities of the shadow banking system are varied and can be performed by various financial market players. Shadow banks are not like regular banks regulated, but nevertheless exercise bank-like activities. Because of the diffuse nature of the shadow banking system also the respective supervision is very complex. Therefore a single shadow banking law cannot be issued. Also, the EU Commission considered in its Green Paper on Shadow Banking that any kind of company and / or activity requires a special procedure. In recent years, increasingly regulations have been developed that directly or indirectly affect activities that are associated with the shadow banking system and that can be seen as important building blocks for greater stability in the financial sector. However, a systematic recording of all shadow banking activities in Europe as well as clear and consistent rules applicable to all stakeholders are still pending. This contribution brings an overview of the latest developments and efforts to regulate the shadow banking system.