The need for consolidating international financial regulatory architecture

Abstract

The existing international financial regulatory architecture is multifarious. Prevalent regulatory forums are numerous, with over-lapping spheres of activity, where all such forums share a lack of consolidated authority. Bodies like the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision (BCBS), Group of 20, Financial Stability Forum, and OECD are all working to reform the international financial architecture. This multiplicity of opinions and disagreement on a minimum set of common standards due to existence of multiple forums with an absence of any concentration of authority is the subject of this paper. There is an argument by various scholars that this can be achieved through the appointment of a Global Supervisor, or a World Regulatory Authority. This paper is an attempt to explore this thesis, and this study goes beyond exploring the structure of various financial law organizations to suggest that there is a need to consolidate the existing structures not only by reducing the number of platforms available but by consolidating the authority into one efficient body.