European Financial Regulation: Levelling the Cross-Sectoral Playing Field

Financial regulation as we know it today mirrors the traditional structure of the financial industry. In most legal systems, it is thus divided into banking, insurance and investment services regulation. In recent decades however, the clear separation between financial sectors has gradually evaporated, as business lines have converged across sectors and FinTech solutions have emerged which do not fit traditional sector boundaries.

As the contours of the traditional tripartition in the financial industry faded, the diverging regulatory and supervisory treatment of these sectors has become increasingly at odds with economic reality.

This collection of essays analyses the main areas of EU financial regulation from a cross-sectoral perspective. For each specific theme, similarities as well as gaps, overlaps and unjustifiable differences between banking, securities and insurance regulation are charted. This novel approach offers insight into the regulatory answers to similar problems across sectors, making it easier to streamline compliance processes and providing a solid basis for a set of normative conclusions on the way forward for EU financial regulation.