Regulating Fraud Across Borders : Internationalised Criminal Law Protection of Capital Markets

This book provides a uniquely comparative approach to the examination of financial crime regulation. At a time when financial crime routinely crosses international boundaries, this book provides a novel understanding of its spread and criminalisation. It traces the international convergence of financial crime regulation with a uniquely comparative approach that examines key institutional and state actors including the European Union, the International Organization of Securities Commissions, as well as the United States, the United Kingdom, Switzerland, France, Italy and Germany, all countries that harbour some of the most influential stock exchanges in the Western world. The book describes and documents the phenomenon of internationalisation of securities frauds – such as insider trading and market manipulation – and the laws criminalising those acts, most notably those responding to recent dramatic transformations in securities markets, high frequency trading, and benchmark manipulation. At the European level, it shows the progressive uniformisation of laws culminating in the 2014 European Union Market Abuse Regulation. The book argues that criminal prohibitions against internationalised market abuse must be understood as an economic and legal imperative to protect financial markets against activities that imperil its integrity, compromising the confidence of investors and thus affecting the economy as a whole. The book is supported by an extensive review of the most significant scholarship in each country. Acknowledgements Contents Introduction 1. The Internationalisation Process I. The Concept of Legal Internationalisation II. Extraterritorial Application of National Law III. International Cooperation IV. Mutual Recognition V. The Diffusion of the American Legal Model VI. Suppression Treaties and Conventions VII. Internationalisation through EU Directives and Regulations VIII. Harmonisation IX. Transnationalisation as a Subcategory of Legal Internationalisation Lato Sensu X. Economic Underpinnings XI. Social and Psychological Underpinnings: White-Collar Criminality in the Context of a Globalised Economy 2. The Internationalisation of Securities Fraud-Related Criminal Law in General I. Introduction II. Securities Fraud as a Criminal Offence III. Critical Statutory Interpretation 3. Extraterritorial Application of United States Law I. Introduction II. The Crucial Role of Extraterritorial Enforcement of the United States Criminal Law in the Prevention and Repression of Financial Fraud III. Overview of United States v Vilar's Fundamental Precedents IV. Critical Analysis of United States v Vilar V. Discussion of Each of United States v Vilar's Supporting Arguments 4. The Internationalised Repression of Insider Trading I. The United States Law on Insider Trading II. The Internationalisation of Insider Trading Law III. Switzerland IV. European Union V. France VI. United Kingdom VII. Italy VIII. Germany 5. The Internationalised Repression of Stock Market Manipulation I. Introduction II. Market Manipulation in the United States III. Traditional Forms of Market Manipulation IV. New Forms V. Benchmark Manipulation VI. Swiss Criminal Law: Internationalisation of the Market Price Manipulation Prohibition through the Diffusion of the American Model VII. European Regulation of the Market Manipulation Prohibition VIII. Developments in Some EU Member States Towards Adjusting to European Regulation Conclusions Bibliography Index "At a time when financial crime routinely crosses international boundaries, this book provides a novel understanding of its spread and criminalisation. It traces the international convergence of financial crime regulation with a uniquely comparative approach that examines key institutional and state actors; including the European Union, the International Organization of Securities Commissions, as well as the United States, the United Kingdom, Switzerland, France, Italy and Germany, all countries that harbour some of the most influential stock exchanges in the Western world. The book describes and documents the phenomenon of internationalisation of securities frauds such as insider trading and market manipulation and the laws criminalising those crimes, most notably those responding to recent dramatic transformations in securities markets, high frequency trading, and benchmark manipulation. At the European level, it shows the progressive uniformisation of laws culminating in the 2014 European Union Market Abuse Regulation. The book argues that the internationalisation of market abuse criminal prohibitions must be understood as an economic and legal imperative, indispensable for the protection of financial markets against activities that imperil its integrity, compromising the confidence of investors and thus affecting the economy as a whole. The book is supported by an extensive review of the most significant scholarship in each country"-- Provided by publisher