The institutional context of financial fraud in a post-transition economy: The Quaestor scandal

Abstract

The article will analyse the greatest Hungarian securities fraud to date: the Quaestor scandal. Quaestor was a holding of several companies, including one of Hungary’s biggest investment adviser and brokerage firms, which went into bankruptcy in early 2015. Later investigations uncovered a massive fraud with an estimated loss close to €500 million to investors, mainly caused by affiliated companies overselling their bonds many times over the limit set by the securities regulator. Using theoretical approaches from comparative political economy, economic sociology and organizational theory, the article will analyse how the institutional context of economic action on the financial markets was conductive to the fraud. Two major factors in particular will be emphasized: the political economy of finance, especially the underdeveloped nature of financial markets and the lack of a retail investor class; and the relative scarcity of capital.