Suchergebnisse

Where do we stand, five years on from the start of the crisis, on progress towards banking reform? Major advances have been made, but a lot of unfinished business remains, notably on structural reform of banks. Following a stock-take of current reform initiatives, the paper reviews some economics of public policy towards banks, starting with the rationale for deposit guarantees and lender-of-last-resort support but concentrating on why governments feel compelled to provide solvency support in crisis. It then covers the economics of capital requirements

Describes and contrasts the course of privatisation programmes in Western Europe under 4 broad headings: the motives and ambitions of the privatisers; the different starting points from which privatisation is proceeding; the political and institutional structures in which the privatisers operate; and the financial systems through which the transfer of ownership to private investors is carried out. Also offers a preliminary assessment of the economic and political impact of privatisation policies, and their implications for State-industry relations in the future. (CP)

Brexit raises particular issues for competition law and policy because it is a field in which the European Commission is a major direct actor, and where national authorities—with the UK's playing a notably strong role—operate in a European network. To foster public debate and inform government policy, the authors established the Brexit Competition Law Working Group, and the article that follows is the text of their final report of July 2017. The report has two main themes. First, Brexit should not jeopardise the legislative or institutional continuity of UK competition law. The main pillars of UK competition law—the Competition Act 1998 and the Enterprise Act 2002—do not require radical reform because of Brexit, though some amendments will be needed. The second theme, however, is the problematic nature of transition to the environment post-Brexit, and of how to secure effective international coordination and cooperation within it. With an end to the "one-stop shop" for merger assessment, the demands on the UK's Competition and Markets Authority could rise sharply, and unless its resources and capabilities are enhanced, UK competition policy could be weakened just when it needs strengthening.