Bank Regulations in Europe Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 4000 words

Bank Regulations in Europe - Essay Example There are currently many regulatory transitions underway which will have multifaceted effects on how Banks are run in Europe and the ultimate investments they deem as adequate for progressive growth. The controversy surrounding these regulations stems from past success as well as the impact recent recession ratios have imposed on the market. The question this analysis will attempt to address is whether or not these regulations are necessary for European banks to progress in the years to come. Basel II is the second of the Basel Accords. These are recommendations set by the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision. The point of these laws is to apply some regulation to the worldwide banking system, an international standard by which all banks may abide. These regulations are an attempt to safeguard the Banking Market against many of the risks banks face yearly. They have seen as a safety net for the international banking market in the case that one major bank collapses. The main focus of the regulations is to reduce the amount of risk all banks take on. Through rigorous risk and capital regulations, Basel II is able to ensure that Banks are not able to take on more risk than they have solvency to maintain. Despite the Basel II regulations and their proven success throughout the past years, recent developments in the global economy have pointed to a need for more strict regulations. This can largely be connected to the massive recession that has occurred over the past two ye ars in the global economy. The nature of the European Banking system and its current need for BeselIII regulations is in reaction to the state of the Economy. The CIA World Factbook notes that the United States of America has the largest economy in the globe. "The recent failure in the U.S. housing and credit markets have resulted in a slowdown in the US economy. 2007 GDP growth was estimated at 2.2% but in 2008 it is projected to be just 0.9%, down from the 10-year average of 2.8% (St Labs, p1)." According to the United States Department of Labor, The Unemployment rate as of September 2009 was 9.8%, which is the result of a progressive growth 8.9% in April 2009. The Banks have followed suit with the housing industry as well as many of the corporations gout This effect in the west has impacted the Europes. University of Maryland economist Peter Morici declares "we are in a depression (Shinkle, p1)." He signifies a recession as an economic decline from which an economy can eventually recover but poses that the state the American economy is in today is much worse and can't be resolved with a quick fix. "My feeling is that if (the president) doesn't fix what's structurally broken, what caused this, we'll be back into this after the federal stimulus has had its effect," says Morici (Shinkle, p1). Many different aspects of the American economy have come under fire as the cause of this financial crisis, most infamous of these methods to date are credit default swap contracts and short selling. The very first credit default swap contract was constructed in 1997 by JP Morgan and it is given credit for what initiated the market to balloon up to a $45 trillion value in 2007 (Pinsent, p1).