Complexity and Crisis in the Financial System : Critical Perspectives on the Evolution of American and British Banking

' This volume truly brings together an interdisciplinary, long-term, financial and legal understanding of financial crises. Contributions from top scholars in the different fields make this a must read for anyone interested in the business and economic development of financial institutions and practices. ' - Bernardo Batiz-Lazo, Bangor University, UK ' This important collection of essays uses the historical experiences of various countries to explore how the increasing complexity of financial systems has magnified the risk of crises. I'm extremely confident that this book will be consulted by scholars in disciplines ranging from law to finance to history. I also sincerely hope that this book will also be read by the public servants responsible for macroprudential regulation and the prevention of future financial crises. ' - Andrew Smith, University of Liverpool Management School, UK What are the long-term causes and consequences of the global financial crisis of 2007-2008? This book offers a fresh perspective on these issues by bringing together a range of academics from law, history, economics and business to look in more depth at the changing relationships between crises and complexity in the US and UK financial markets. The contributors are motivated by three main questions: - Is the present financial system more complex than in the past and, if so, why? - To what extent, and in what ways, does the worldwide financial crisis of 2007-2008 differ from past financial crises? - How can governments, regulators and businesses better manage and deal with increased levels of complexity both in the present and in the future? Students and scholars of finance, economics, history, financial law, banking and international business will find this book to be of interest. It will also be of use to regulators and policymakers involved in the US and UK banking sectors. Contributors : F. Akinbami, T. T. Arvind, P.H. Bent, M. Billings, I. Bond, R.F. Bruner, A. Campbell, S.D. Carr, M. Casson, J.M. Dahlgreen, J. Foreman-Peck, J. Gray, L. Hannah, M. Hollow, A. Mehedi, D.T. Mitchell, R. Michie, J. Singleton, J. Taylor, R. Tomasic, S. Wilson '__This volume truly brings together an interdisciplinary, long-term, financial and legal understanding of financial crises. Contributions from top scholars in the different fields make this a must read for anyone interested in the business and economic development of financial institutions and practices.__'- Bernardo Batiz-Lazo, Bangor University, UK'__This important collection of essays uses the historical experiences of various countries to explore how the increasing complexity of financial systems has magnified the risk of crises. I'm extremely confident that this book will be consulted by scholars in disciplines ranging from law to finance to history. I also sincerely hope that this book will also be read by the public servants responsible for macroprudential regulation and the prevention of future financial crises.__'- Andrew Smith, University of Liverpool Management School, UK What are the long-term causes and consequences of the global financial crisis of 2007-2008? This book offers a fresh perspective on these issues by bringing together a range of academics from law, history, economics and business to look in more depth at the changing relationships between crises and complexity in the US and UK financial markets. The contributors are motivated by three main questions:- Is the present financial system more complex than in the past and, if so, why?- To what extent, and in what ways, does the worldwide financial crisis of 2007-2008 differ from past financial crises?- How can governments, regulators and businesses better manage and deal with increased levels of complexity both in the present and in the future? Students and scholars of finance, economics, history, financial law, banking and international business will find this book to be of interest. It will also be of use to regulators and policymakers involved in the US and UK banking sectors. **Contributors**: F. Akinbami, T. T. Arvind, P.H. Bent, M. Billings, I. Bond, R.F. Bruner, A. Campbell, S.D. Carr, M. Casson, J.M. Dahlgreen, J. Foreman-Peck, J. Gray, L. Hannah, M. Hollow, A. Mehedi, D.T. Mitchell, R. Michie, J. Singleton, J. Taylor, R. Tomasic, S. Wilson Front matter 1 Copyright 4 Contents 5 Figures 7 Tables 8 Contributors 9 Acknowledgements 15 Introduction: rethinking the crises-complexity nexus 17 PART I Complexity and crises in financial systems 27 1. Financial innovation and the consequences of complexity: insights from major US banking crises 29 2. Entrepreneurial failure and economic crisis: a historical perspective 52 3. Nature or nurture: the British financial system since 1688 76 4. The British banking population: 1790-1982 101 PART II Legislative and structural changes in the financial sector 135 5. From tort to finance: Delaware’s sedative duty to monitor 137 6. Demutualization and risk: the rise and fall of the British building society 165 7. Directors in the dock: joint-stock banks and the criminal law in nineteenth-century Britain 180 8. UK corporate law and corporate governance before 1914: a re-interpretation 199 9. Effective risk management and improved corporate governance 230 PART III Managing and regulating complex financial systems 257 10. The historical development of the US government’s responses to economic and financial crises 259 11. From the mid nineteenth-century bank failures in the UK to the twenty-first-century Financial Policy Committee: changing view fo responsibility for systemic stability 277 12. Financial reporting, banking and financial crisis: past, present and future 303 13. Financial crises and disaster management 322 Index 345