Although financial innovations and deregulations are often argued to be one of the main causes of the current global financial crises, there are only a few cross-country empirical evidences. Using several proxy variables for different types of innovations and regulations of a total of 132 countries, this thesis analyzes the effects of various types of financial innovations and regulations on several types of financial crisis such as currency crisis and banking crisis, for countries with different income levels. The thesis shows that financial innovation in the form of securitization has a negative effect on a country’s financial stability, while stronger regulations in the form of restrictions on bank activities and entry requirements are positively associated with the financial stability. However, judicious implementation of financial regulations is required to cope with the financial crisis because some types of regulations, if implemented simultaneously, have countervailing effects and may exacerbate the financial crisis.

Although financial innovations and deregulations are often argued to be one of the main causes of the current global financial crises, there are only a few cross-country empirical evidences. Using several proxy variables for different types of innovations and regulations of a total of 132 countries, this thesis analyzes the effects of various types of financial innovations and regulations on several types of financial crisis such as currency crisis and banking crisis, for countries with different income levels. The thesis shows that financial innovation in the form of securitization has a negative effect on a country’s financial stability, while stronger regulations in the form of restrictions on bank activities and entry requirements are positively associated with the financial stability. However, judicious implementation of financial regulations is required to cope with the financial crisis because some types of regulations, if implemented simultaneously, have countervailing effects and may exacerbate the financial crisis.

What explains the shift towards greater direct public oversight of financial markets in international financial regulation that has characterized the response to the global financial crisis of 2007-2010? Over this period, the main international financial regulatory bodies have abandoned the market-based mechanisms that had informed their approach towards the regulation of different financial domains in the years before the crisis and significantly expanded the perimeter of state-based regulation. However, the extent and the timing of this shift cannot be regarded only as the by-product of the crisis, nor they can be explained by the existing interpretations of the political determinants of international regulatory policies. This study builds upon existing state-centric explanations of international regulatory policies, but it goes beyond these works by exploring how the preferences of the most influential countries in response to the crisis have been influenced by variations in the degree of public salience of different financial domains. More specifically, this study argues that the lasting increase in the public salience of financial regulatory policies in the US and different European countries since the last quarter of 2008 has created strong incentives for elected officials in these countries to challenge the market-based approach that had emerged in the decade and half before the crisis and to directly interfere in the international regulatory agenda. In order to explain this shift, this study will analyse the evolution in the international governance of three sets of markets and institutions that have occupied an important position in the international regulatory agenda in recent years: 1) OTC derivatives; 2) rating agencies; 3) hedge funds. Besides making an empirical contribution to the literature on the politics of international financial regulation, this study also contributes theoretically to this literature by deepening our understanding of the nexus between international regulatory coordination and domestic public opinion.

Magister Legum - LLM / Private equity is a critical vehicle of entrepreneurship development that is essential in reducing unemployment and boosting the economic growth of South Africa. There has, however, been a decline in private equity investment (PEI) activity in South Africa compared to the 2006-2007 peak and seed capital by venture capitalists has been affected the most. This has been attributed to a number of factors mainly related to financial and tax regulation. This study critically reviews the financial regulation of the PEIs in South Africa with a view to elucidating potential pitfalls that may be affecting the competitiveness of the industry. A comparison with the regulation of PEIs in the United Kingdom (which is generally regarded as functioning well) is also made in order to provide a basis for recommendations to improve private equity activity in South Africa. The main legal structures for PEIs in South Africa are the en commandite partnerships and the bewind trusts, of which en commandite partnerships are the most common legal structure. The private equity industry is mainly regulated by common law. However, there are various, separate sections of legislation that regulate private equity transactions as well as public companies. These fragmented pieces of legislation and regulations include the Financial Advisory and Intermediary Services Act, the Broad-based Black Economic Empowerment Act and the Black Economic Empowerment policy framework, the Companies Act, the Pension Funds Act, the Financial Markets Act, the Exchange Control Regulations 1961, the Competition Act, the Johannesburg Stock Exchange Listing Requirements and the King Reports on Corporate Governance. Of these, the most influential is the Financial Advisory and Intermediary Services Act which regulates financial service providers or fund managers. A comparison with the PEIs regulatory framework in the UK showed that the UK, apart from having a consolidated legislation regulating the legal structure of PEIs, generally, has a more comprehensive scope of regulation that includes self-regulation, co-regulation, and regional regulations, in addition to the traditional, conservative common law. This integration of regional requirements through EU’s Directive 2011/61/EU and the Walker Guidelines has probably helped the UK to open up new markets in the region. Although there are some positives in the regulation of PEIs in South Africa, notably the regulation of financial markets to prevent market abuse and insider trading, it appears financial regulation may benefit from drawing lessons from the law and regulatory framework of the UK. It is therefore recommended that the South African private equity industry develops a consolidated and facilitative regulatory framework. This can be based on co-regulation along the lines of the Walker Guidelines (which encourages more disclosure and transparency) as well as a consolidated Act to control all PEIs activities.

Magister Legum - LLM / The main objective of the study is to analyse the possibility of adopting the Twin Peaks model as a mechanism for ensuring protection to the consumers of financial services in Uganda. Uganda's financial sector has suffered impediments to growth and this can largely be attributed to the regulatory framework but also due to the absence in streamlined financial consumer protection. The Parliament of Uganda has failed to pass into law legislation required to protect consumers generally let alone financial consumers. The gaping hole created by lack of legislation puts consumers of financial services at risk of loss. This research paper shall give insight into the possibility of the financial sector adopting a new regulatory framework with inbuilt mechanisms for consumer protection. This research paper will also be a legal resource for literature pertaining to the correlation between a financial regulatory system and financial consumer protection.

A presente pesquisa busca analisar os efeitos da regulação financeira sobre diferentes aspectos do setor de microfinanças. Para tanto identifica, a partir da literatura especializada, hipóteses que apontam para quatro variáveis como as mais sensíveis aos efeitos da regulação e supervisão. São elas a sustentabilidade financeira das instituições, seu alcance em relação ao número de clientes e do nível de renda deste, a adimplência observada em seus portfólios e a estrutura do setor de microfinanças em termos da quantidade e dos tipos de instituições existentes. Argumenta-se que cada elemento da regulação possui um efeito distinto sobre um ou mais desses aspectos, que são colocados à prova em dois estudos de caso. O primeiro é o caso brasileiro, no qual a evolução da regulamentação parece ter favorecido, até certo ponto, o predomínio de instituições públicas e no setor de microcrédito. Por sua vez, a regulamentação mexicana teria atuado no sentido oposto, favorecendo a formação de um grande número de instituições privadas, muitas das quais de pequeno porte. / This research aims at analyzing the effects of financial regulation over different aspects of the microfinance sector. Therefore, at first it identifies on the specialized literature hypothesis that point to four variables considered more sensible to the effects of financial regulation and supervision. Those are the financial sustainability of institutions, their outreach in terms of breadth as well as depth, the levels of loan losses in their portfolios and the very own structure of the microfinance sector regarding the quantity and the types of existing institutions. We argue that each aspect of financial regulation presents distinct effects over the variables above, and we put them to test by employing two case studies. The first focuses on Brazil, where the regulatory evolution appears to have benefited, up to a certain point, the dominance of public institutions on the microfinance sector. On the other hand, we look at the Mexican case, where we can find a great number of small sized private institutions. Therefore, financial regulation seems to have had so far the opposite effect it had in Brazil.

Magister Legum - LLM / A popular difficulty that all SMEs have had to face is limited access to finance. The fact that banks are not prepared to finance small businesses, has exacerbated the existing 'financing gap' in the small and medium-sized business which is already present in the SME industry. In an analysis of small and medium business are faced with a myriad of difficulties often as a result of restrictions in current collateral systems that do not offer a viable degree of risk mitigation due to ineffectual legislation, insufficient enforcement procedures, or an existing legal structure.1 All of these have therefore made factoring a great choice as far as SMEs go in all African countries that want to have access to financial services. Factoring is the service that, in order to provide the underlying credit sales of goods or services (known as a factor), is provided by a third-party.

Magister Legum - LLM / This paper analyses how the Zimbabwean economic history has led to the perception and attitude of the population towards the financial industry. It has been blighted by extremes to the extent that in 2008 the Zimbabwe economy had one of the highest hyperinflation rate in the world. Pettinger sums up the hyperinflation journey of Zimbabwe as having begun in the 1990s shortly after the disastrous land reform. This is where private farms were grabbed from landowners and re-allocated to mostly peasant farmers who had no technical know-how in farming. It was also a time when the country was involved in an unbudgeted and unsolicited second Congo civil war necessitating that the Government increase salaries to cater for soldiers and other officials assigned to the Congo. Earlier on the government had buckled under pressure from former war liberators (war veterans) and paid out unbudgeted bonuses.

京都大学 / 新制・課程博士 / 博士(地域研究) / 甲第23296号 / 地博第277号 / 新制||地||106(附属図書館) / 京都大学大学院アジア・アフリカ地域研究研究科東南アジア地域研究専攻 / (主査)教授 三重野 文晴, 教授 長岡 慎介, 准教授 町北 朋洋 / 学位規則第4条第1項該当 / Doctor of Area Studies / Kyoto University / DGAM

The Internet and other telecommunications systems have reshaped the means by which markets are accessed, generated, and transformed. Recent innovations in computer science have led to the development of a virtually bound, decentralized, encrypted currency system known as bitcoin. Unlike conventional currency systems, the Bitcoin protocol is cryptologically defined with a virtual structure that allows it to simultaneously operate as currency, commodity, and market shaping socio-political force. Its decentralized design permits it to function as a free-market response to fiat currencies vulnerable to inflation, regulation, and manipulation. Given the cultural significance anthropologists and other social scientists have assigned to various modes and mediums of exchange over the years, the socio-economic impact of this novel currency system warrants particular consideration. This research describes the Bitcoin community that has emerged alongside the currency, including the entrepreneurs, developers, and consumers who are dedicated to bitcoin’s perpetuation and acceptance as an internationally recognized medium of exchange. Ethnographic interviews and participant observation were utilized to collect information from users in the Central Florida area, detailing their experiences and interactions with the Bitcoin protocol and its associated community. This research provides new levels of anthropological insight into currency development, market interaction, and economically embodied social commentary. Moreover, its exploratory nature helps create a viable framework around which qualitative inquiry of virtual crypto-currencies may be designed in future studies.