The Law of Financial Institutions

The 2017 Home Capital saga represents the shortcomings of a financial system challenged by distinct, siloed regulatory frameworks that fail to communicate with each other. Home Capital is a publicly traded company that acts as a lender through the Home Trust Company, most often providing mortgages to clients rejected by traditional banks. Home Capital’s 2017 announcement that it required $2 billion to sustain a $600 million loss shook customer confidence, and fueled by allegations of corruption, they suffered a rapid decline in stock price.

The Economics of Financial Markets and Institutions is based on introductory lectures on financial economics delivered to master students in law in the Department of Law at the University of Oxford. The aim is to keep the levels of mathematical complexity to a minimum while, at the same time, to aim high, conceptually, emphasizing the close links between financial and economic analysis.

The efficiency, safety, and soundness of financial markets depend on the operation of core infrastructure–exchanges, central counter-parties, and central securities depositories. How these institutions are governed critically affects their performance. Yet, despite their importance, there is little certainty, still less a global consensus, about their governance. Running the World's Markets examines how markets are, and should be, run.

The efficiency, safety, and soundness of financial markets depend on the operation of core infrastructure–exchanges, central counter-parties, and central securities depositories. How these institutions are governed critically affects their performance. Yet, despite their importance, there is little certainty, still less a global consensus, about their governance. Running the World's Markets examines how markets are, and should be, run.