1. Multilevel Governance in Banking Regulation

The global financial crisis of 2007–2009 has prompted a radical re-evaluation of the structures and functions of banking regulation. This contribution discusses the appropriate locus and boundaries of such regulation focusing on the balance between the national, the regional/European and the international dimension (multilevel governance) as well as the respective role of soft and hard law in making the financial system sounder. There is no single solution to the problem of reconciling the global good of financial stability with the structure of financial regulation. What may be appropriate—or even necessary—in the European Union (EU) or Eurozone may not be so globally given the continuing existence of sovereign states with political responsibility to national electorates and different degrees of openness to global financial markets.