Financial Services Law

Abstract

Financial services law can be understood as the normative framework that governs the financial sector. Based on the activities carried out, the financial sector, in turn, has been traditionally subdivided into three sub-sectors, namely banking, securities, and insurance. Thus, financial services law has accordingly been divided into banking law, securities (or capital markets) law and insurance law. In this chapter we discuss first the legal meaning of financial services law, financial services, financial products, financial intermediaries, and financial markets. We then analyse the rationale of regulation, focusing on financial stability, depositor and investor protection, market efficiency and transparency, prevention of financial crime and fraud as well as competition. The chapter also considers the internationalization of financial institutions and services and their liberalization and how the latter interacts with prudential supervision. In doing so, this chapter looks at GATS provisions and other trade agreements and concludes with a discussion of the law-making process at the international level, with particular attention to soft law.

Regulación y supervisión financiera en la nueva economía digital global

“…Solo los billetes emitidos por el BCE y los bancos centrales nacionales tienen curso legal en la UE. (ii) Sin embargo, en sentido amplio, el dinero no es un monopolio estatal 45 . A este respecto, basta con reparar en que el dinero bancario es parte esencial del sistema financiero, que es proporcionado por el sector privado (transferencias bancarias, cheques, tarjetas, créditos).…”

The future of the international financial system: The emerging CBDC network and its impact on regulation

“…Cooperation may lead to regulatory coordination. Traditionally, central banks have effectively developed informal networks of cooperation such as the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision (Lastra, 2015, p. 32). Calls have been made for international cooperation including that on CBDC standard‐setting (see, e.g., Reuters Staff, 2020).…”

“…Second, cooperation requires the building of trust between actors as much as possible in areas of common interest (Rathbun, 2012, p. 323). To facilitate trust, negotiations should be conducted at not only the bilateral level, but at the regional and multilateral level through both formal organizations (e.g., the BIS) and “informal” groupings (e.g., G20, G7; see Lastra, 2015, pp. 543–544).…”

“…Specifically, the CBDC network would add an additional and complex layer on top of the existing ties between various actors in the GFN. The changes brought by CBDC on payment systems would affect the GFN, given its “complicated network of exposures” (Lastra, 2015, p. 187). While we expect CBDC to build on existing links, it may offer a fresh start for a new cross‐currency transactions infrastructure, given the need for new cross‐currency transactions infrastructure (Peterson Institute for International Economics, 2021).…”

“…The article does, however, note how other actors, such as commercial banks (Lastra, 2015, pp. 25–26) and international organizations, may interact with central banks.…”