Financial Supervision in a Comparative Perspective

This book provides an overview of the role of independent administrative authorities assigned to the oversight of financial markets, outlining the historic and economic background, the warp and the weft of the European system, and where these authorities have emerged and now operate. The first part of the book deals with the socio-economical background, in order to contextualize the activities of these agencies and understand the roles they play and the influence they have on the domestic systems. In the second part of the book, the German and British legal models are compared in order to provide some examples of independent authorities operating in the financial sector and to determine their characteristics, powers, functions, and responsibilities.