Financial Regulation and Nation State Crisis Management: Evidence from Germany, Ireland and the UK

Abstract

We study the unfolding of the credit crisis until 2008, and the diversity of policy responses in Germany, Ireland, and the UK. We show that although the channels through which these three European states manifested financial distress were different, the crisis evoked similar reactions by regulators and national governments. Our conclusion emphasise the role of state regulatory bodies as a primary source of the “rules of the game” in financial markets, and they support several of the policy measures taken in the aftermath of the credit crisis. In particular, we argue that adverse regulatory incentives at a national level require strengthening regulation at the European level, to avoid national capture and a resulting race to the bottom by national financial regulators.

Keywords: regulation, Europe, banking, financial crisis

JEL Classification: E44, G01, G18, H11, H12