European integration and the regulation of international banking : selected national comparisons

Abstract

This chapter examines the international regulation of banking from the perspective of the Grand-Duchy of Luxembourg. One objective is to explore the methods employed by the authorities of the Grand-Duchy to promote the interests of its financial centre and the use it made of its membership in the Community and the Bas le Supervisors' Committee in the pursuit of that purpose. More specifically this case-study seeks to provide an account of the policies adopted by the Luxembourg authorities as a response to the EC Commission's proposals for the creation of the single market in banking and analyzes the part played by the various actors in the formulation of the Grand-Duchy's banking policies. Another objective is to evaluate whether the two international banking regimes had an important impact on the type of banking regulation adopted by the Grand-Duchy and on the policy-making process of Luxembourg. Additionally, this chapter tries to identify the issues, if any, on which the international regimes' rules conflicted with the perception of self-interest held by the authorities and the other actors of Grand-Duchy's financial centre and to find out how the Luxembourg authorities reacted in such situations. Luxembourg was chosen as the subject of this case study for two main reasons. The Grand-Duchy has in the last few decades became the second most important financial centre within the Community both with regard to the number of foreign banks registered there and also the amount of international financial activity transacted. [...]