Group of Thirty issues road-map for financial reforms.

Abstract

Purpose--The purpose of this paper is to summarize the Group of Thirty's recommendations and explain how they relate to other concurrent financial market regulatory initiatives in the USA, UK, and Europe.

Design/methodology/approach--The paper summarizes the report's four core recommendations, describes how they relate to recent reports by the US Treasury Department, the US Chamber of Commerce, and Committee on Capital Markets Regulation, and discusses how they may signal the direction of forthcoming domestic and coordinated international regulation.

Findings--Momentum has been building for consolidation, increased oversight, and international coordination of the legal and regulatory framework that governs the financial industry. The report has an unabashedly pro-regulatory agenda.

Originality/value--The paper provides helpful reference on the current direction of international financial institution regulation

Keywords Financial restructuring, Finance

Paper type Technical paper

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On January 15, 2009 the Group of Thirty (G30) issued a report entitled Financial Reform. A Framework for Financial Stability. The report recommends a massive, globally coordinated restructuring of the legislative and regulatory system that governs the financial services industry. Viewed in the context of the momentum created by other recent proposals, it is clear that the G30 report presents a roadmap for pending legislative and regulatory reforms and will likely play a significant role in shaping the financial reform agenda in the United States and internationally.

The G30 Working Group on Financial Reform that issued the report is chaired by former Federal Reserve Chairman Paul Volcker, one of President Obama's economic advisors and Chairman of the President's Economic Recovery Advisory Board. Mr Volcker has stated that he will make the recommendations to President Obama and that the report is "a reasonable indication of the direction in which we might go". Although many of those with official responsibilities recused themselves from participating in the report, it is believed that there was …