A Road to Financial Stability

Abstract

This article provides a road map to financial stability. The roadmap is created by analyzing successive episodes of financial crisis at various points in time and the regulatory-cum-supervisory responses devised to reduce the chance of future threats to systemic stability. This article provides a glimpse of historical events that led to the establishment of Basel Committee and then critically evaluates committee’s efforts to make financial markets more certain and secure. This article also highlights the efforts of supervisory authorities in creating an effective regulatory framework through the Basel Capital accords. A critique of the Basel accords is sketched showing how Basel I and Basel II did not help contain successive episodes of financial crisis. This paper also draws upon Basel III regulations currently under deliberation and highlights vulnerable areas that may continue to threaten systemic stability even after the implementation of Basel III.

Keywords: Financial Crises, International Financial Markets, Government Policy and Regulation

JEL Classification: G01, G15, G18, G28