Professor Hervé Causse released a book of over 800 pages: Droit bancaire et financier (Banking and Financial Law).

Typically, there are "Banking Law" on one side and "Financial Law" on the other, each giving rise to separate books, Banking Law having long since detached from the Commercial Law and do having never really left Civil Law, Financial Law being more subject  recently of books.

Typically, there are the "Banking Law" on one side and the "Financial Law" on the other, each giving rise to separate books, banking, having long since detached from the Commercial Law and do having never really left the Civil Law, financial law being more subject  recently of books.

In the books of "Banking Law", we find the contracts, transactions (credit), mechanisms (like money), institutions (such as the National Central Bank) and sometimes specific repressive rules.
In the books of "financial law", first of all, we meet financial market, financial transactions (like all securities transactions or takeovers bids), the economy is much more present, the US Law being at home because of extraterritoriality as either model, repressive rules slipping everywhere, to the heart of what appears to be today a branch of law.

The important work of Hervé Causse goes further and corresponds to reality: it merges the Banking and Financial Law.

He does it because his work is based on the life of the sector, that is to say the professionals. In fact, professionals work in banks. Then he describes those who admit and control their activities, that is to say the authorities of supervision and regulation. He goes on to describe to the reader the instruments, financial prowess that the bankers invent.

Thus sucked by financial reality, what is left of the civil commitment of Banking Law? To take just one example, when the author discusses the concept of "banking service" from that of "financial service", he finds the uncertainty of this notions. The Banking Law is thus trying to forget the Civil Code, the “deposition” techniques being one example.

Thanks to the book of Hervé Causse, the reader understands that the rules now being written by those designing financial regulation, these rules must find their bones in the financial regulatory system.

Complete reference : Causse, H., Droit bancaire et financier, Foreword of Daniel Tricot, coll. "Droit privé & sciences criminelles",Maré & Martin, France, Paris, 2015, 839 p.

Read the coverback.

Read the introduction written by Daniel Tricot;

Read the table of content.

 

La banque UBS a informé le 26 novembre 2012 qu'elle avait sanctionné par la Financial Services Authority (FSA) pour un comportement illicite de son ex-trader. Son communiqué insiste sur le fait que l'amende est moindre de 30% que celle qui aurait pu être prononcée, car la banque a, depuis la découverte du manquement, amélioré ses contrôles internes et la formation de son personnel. En considération de cette amélioration de gouvernance, qui donne un gage de bon fonctionnement du système à l'avenir, le régulateur, à l'intérieur même de son système de sanction, adoucit celui-ci. On mesure ici que la sanction ex post est utilisée comme moyen ex ante pour construire une plus efficace gouvernance, partie intégrante de la régulation financière et bancaire.

Before the rules called Basel III shall apply in Switzerland in 2015, the "Département Fédéral de Finance" (Swiss Federal Department of Finance) of the "Conseil Fédéral Suisse" (Swiss Federal Council) has developed a draft of an ordinance that was subject to public consultation on August 28, 2012. Another text will present later rules about systemic banks. The order will be applicable on the 1st January 2013. But banks, like any anticipator market agent, have not already internalized the rules of Basel III ? In addition, it seems that the criterion of systemic continues to be the size of the agent, but it is not so evident.

Rating agencies are in the eye of the cyclone, due to the ambiguity of the situation: by their status, they are simple operators but by their role are almost regulators. Governing the markets, the banks can not for the moment dispense with them. However, the rating market is oligopolistic. On August 1, 2012, the association of German public banks complained that the prices practiced by rating agencies are monopoly pricing. What is remarkable is that this a complaint is made not to the European Competition Authority, the Commission, but to the European Banking Authority (EBA). Thus, regulation is a tool and a wider tool more than is the competition.

What is called the "Libor" is a contraction of "London InterBank Exchange Rate". Each morning, the banks reported Libor rates and all of the exchanges are backed with these statements. It is therefore the confidence that we make to them that holds the system. In a declarative system, it was easy for the Barclays Bank to report an inaccurate Libor, upward or downward, according to trade that it wanted to do. This is legally of course a price manipulation, which was sanctioned by the "Financial Securities Authority - FSA" on June 27, 2012, inflicting Bank fined nearly £ 60 million. But it is especially throughout the system of credibility of this Bank, and banks, which is undermined, since everything is based on the statements. We understand that therefore all managers are laid off, etc. Will that be enough to keep a system purely declarative?

On 6 June 2012, the European Commission has extended the authorization given to France, Belgium and Luxembourg to bring their State guaranty to Dexia Bank SA and DLC. Further, the Commission agreed to raise the ceiling of the guaranty, joint but non several, of EUR 15 billion which brings the ceiling allowed to EUR 55 billion. But the permission is only until September 30. This might coincide with the time where the Commission will take a position on the plan of "orderly resolution" of this systemic bank. It justifies its flexibility itself in its exemption from the prohibition of State aids, by the fact that it is a systemic bank and that a resolution plan will be submitted soon, but it raises in advance competition problems.This justifies all the more draft texts on the mechanisms which must be specific to the systemic failing financial institutions.

On 7 June 2012, in Copenhague, at the Institute of International Finance (IIF) analysed the impact of the new regulatory regime on banks, credit and systemic risk and the new challenges facing Europe. He took act that Zero growth is expected, european unemployemt is at 10%, many firms have difficulties to finance new projects and spending for innovation is down. I said that European leaders need to do more, even if they have already done much. They are obtaining a new fiscal compact, which requires very strict rules on government deficits and agreed on a close coordination of our national economic policies, notably though the "European semester" including a collective right to review the annual budget of each Member State before it is finalised. But to restore the citizens’ trust, Regulation must be developped.

The European Parliament, which according to the co decision procedure, must vote the text of directive, until the Council of European Ministers doing it, examined the draft of the Directive on Basel III standards on May 14, 2012. On prudential standards, he planned to leave the States free to adopt higher minimum requirements. In addition, it imposed that the bonus paid to the CEO didn't attain a higher price than their fixed compensation.

Prudential rules on the own funds of banks adopted by the Basle Committee are biding as soon as they will be transposed in a binding legal text. The new rules of Basel III must take the force of a European directive. This gives rise to a new discussion, nor between the central bank governors (as in Basel), but between Finance Ministers of the European Union member states, in Brussels. On this occasion, each State defends the interest of its banks; the rule advocated by him corresponds to its banking structure or its type of banking business. In any case, the banks, anticipating the application of Basle III, have already integrated the prudential requirements in their accounts, hoping that their State will preserve it.

After the close of financial markets , the Charmain of JP Morgan, Jamie Dimon, announced on 10 may 2012, the loss of 2 billion dollars on hedging activities. The announcement was carried out by a conference call, the Chairman saying the past that this is the result of errors of assessment and in the future that losses may increase. Commentators have pointed out that it made less legitimate criticism that this Chairman has always made on the regulation of banking of the Dodd-Frank Act and the ban of trading for own account, the press considered moreover that the manager has more shown by such a result the need of constraint to exercise in the future on banks. But should we have to confuse ad hoc case and the general rule to adopt? Is relevance of a critic and special case in which is described that is one was critical can be remain relevant?

The financial crisis and the banking technology shows that the "trading" is specific. This is why the Basel Committee estimates that it appropriate to regulate banks trading activity in a specific way. But it is difficult to characterize the activity of "trading" and actual banking activity itself. Trading is limited to negotiation; it justifies less equity as security, since it does not present credit risk. But this characterization even is questionable. This is why a consultation opened on May, 3 by the Basel Committee, and the qualification, and the classification of operations, and the measures of prevention of risks to be taken by specific prudential measures. Responses can be made until September 7, 2012.

The European Commission published on April 11, 2012, a follow-up and summary report of on the application of the third directive "Anti-Money Laundering " which gives a community value to on international standards adopted by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF). This is to protect the financial system against the money laundering. The report assesses the effectiveness of the application of the directive and points out the need for change. The Commission requests that the standards for the detection of risk of money laundering are better targeted and oriented in the gambling sector. It also suggests that tax offences be regarded as offences of money laundering. As individuals, the report requires to banks and other professionals to increase their due diligences requirements. It also covers the "persons politically exposed", that is - to say those may be corrupt. The report finally requests a special assessment on the application of the Directive to independent legal professionals, including lawyers, subject to the legal obligation to report .

Translated Summaries

The translated summaries are done by the Editors and not by the Authors.

ENGLISH

Prudential regulation applied to banks is caught swinging back and forth between two objectives.

FRENCH

La réglementation prudentielle appliquée aux banques oscille constamment d’un objectif à l’autre.

Translated Summaries

In The Journal of Regulation the summaries’ translation are done by the Editors and not by the authors

ENGLISH

Interchange fees set by the main credit/debit card associations play an important role in the retail banking sector, however they remain largely invisible to consumers.

 

FRENCH

Les frais d’interchange fixés par les principales associations de cartes de crédit jouent un rôle important dans le secteur des services bancaires de détail, mais ils restent largement invisibles pour les consommateurs.

SPANISH

Tasas de intercambio establecidas por las asociaciones principales de tarjetas de crédito/débito juegan un rol importante en el sector de negocio de bancario minorista. No obstante, permanecen por la mayor parte invisibles a los consumidores.

ITALIAN

Le commissioni interscambio su carte di credito/debito fissate dalle principali associazioni giocano un ruolo importante nel settore dell’attività bancaria al dettaglio, tuttavia sono ancora poco visibili ai consumatori.

ARABIC

 رُسوم التبادُل التي وُضِعت مِن طرفِ جمعيات بطاقة الائتمان لها دورُ أساسي في مَجال المصرفية للخدمات الافرادية, لكِنَّ بقِيت هذِهِ الرُّسُوم غيرُ ظاهِرة لِكثِير المُستهلِكين. 

..................

Other translations forthcoming.

 

Translated Summaries

In The Journal of Regulation the summaries’ translation are done by the Editors and not by the authors

ENGLISH

While financial regulation aims at achieving market stability, regulating markets can sometimes take an ironic turn when regulations end up having consequences that differ from their original regulatory purpose. The article provides such an example of regulation’s irony: how a regulatory change in Germany led Moody’s to downgrade 12 banks, therefore weakening such institutions and consequently enhancing the current issues of market volatility and credit cost.

 

FRENCH

Bien que la réglementation financière vise à assurer la stabilité du marché, la régulation des marchés peut parfois prendre une tournure ironique quand la régulation finit par avoir des conséquences qui diffèrent de son objectif de régulation d’origine. L’article fournit un exemple de l’ironie de la régulation : comment un changement de réglementation en Allemagne a conduit Moody’s à déclasser 12 banques allemandes,, donc à affaiblir ces institutions et par conséquent à accroître les problèmes actuels de la volatilité du marché et le coût du crédit.

ITALIAN

Quando la regolazione è volta ad ottenere la stabilità del mercato, l’evoluzione di questi mercati oggetto di tale regolazione può essere particolarmente ironica quando la regolazione ha delle conseguenze ben differenti da quelle originariamente prepostesi. Questo articolo cerca quindi di mettere in evidenza un esempio di questa ironia: in effetti, un cambio di regolatore in Germania ha portato Moody’s a tagliare il rating di 12 banche, indebolendo ancora di più tali istituzioni ed aumentando si conseguenza le questioni relative alla volatilità del mercato e del costo del credito.

.......................

Other translations forthcoming

Translated Summaries

In The Journal of Regulation the summaries’ translation are done by the Editors and not by the authors

ENGLISH

On 16 November 2011, Moody’s downgraded twelve public-sector German banks, after regulatory changes in Germany and the EU.

 

FRENCH

Le 16 novembre 2011, Moody"s a dégradé douze banques publiques allemandes, après des changements dans la régulation financière en Allemagne et dans l’Union Européenne.

SPANISH

El 16 de noviembre del 2011, Moody’s degradó doce bancos del sector público alemán, después de cambios regulatorios en Alemania y la UE.

ITALIAN

Il 16 novembre 2011, Moody’s ha declassato dodici banche tedesche del settore pubblico, dopo dei cambiamenti nella regolazione finanziaria in Germania e nell’Unione europea.

...........................

Other translations forthcoming.

Translated Summaries

ENGLISH

The subject of neutrality brings to my mind a certain number of preliminary ideas and reminiscences.

First of all, the image of Buddha comes to mind, because it alone expresses the extent to which neutrality is an endless subject, since by thinking about the fact that he isn’t thinking about anything, Buddha is still thinking about something. It also makes me think of contemporary music’s constant attempts to attain a form of neutrality: yet this goal remains unattainable, because it is evident that the search for the neutral, in a sound or a timbre, can probably never be found.

 

FRENCH

Tout d’abord, la figure du Bouddha, qui exprime à elle seule combien la question de la neutralité est un thème sans fin, car en pensant qu’il ne pense à rien, le Bouddha pense malgré tout à quelque chose.

Il me fait penser aussi à la musique contemporaine, à son souci constant d’atteindre une forme de neutralité ; préoccupation à jamais déçue lorsqu’elle reconnaît ultimement que le neutre, en ayant toujours une qualité – un son, un timbre - est probablement introuvable.

 

SPANISH

El principio de los estándares de la neutralidad (el ejemplo de estándares de contabilidad)

El tema de la neutralidad trae a luz un cierto número de ideas preliminares.

Para comenzar, la figura de Buda viene a mente, porque él sólo expresa la naturaleza interminable que es el tema de la neutralidad, ya que al pensar en el hecho de que él no piensa en absolutamente nada, Buda aún así piensa en algo. También me hace pensar el intento constante de la música contemporánea de alcanzar una forma de neutralidad: pero este objetivo permanece inalcanzable, porque es evidente que la búsqueda de lo neutral, en un sonido o un timbre, probablemente nunca se podrá encontrar.

.....................

Other translations forthcoming.

ENGLISH

On May 20, 2011, a colloquium was held in Paris on the question of How should the Audit be regulated?, organized by The Journal of Regulation, l’Ecole de droit de la Sorbonne, and KPMG France, one of the Journal’s privileged partners. The participants were Jean-Luc Decornoy, Nathalie de Basaldua, Alain Couret, Marie-Anne Frison-Roche, Christine Thin, Stephen Haddrill, Claude Cazes, Etienne Wasmer, and Mara Cameran. The reflections and discussions bore upon the European Commission’s Green Paper on Audit Policy. The colloquium’s ambition was to discuss the methodological links that must guide the future of the Audit, both in relation to financial regulation and competition, and also to analyze what the inspirations for audit reform should be, especially by using the available economic studies. Each participant agreed that the most important goal was to ensure that the audit is of very high quality, and everything ought to converge towards this goal.

 

ITALIAN

Relazione bibliografica (Convegno): Vers quelle régulation de l’audit faut-il aller? (Come dovrebbe essere regolato l’audit ?)

Il 20 maggio 2011, si è tenuto a Parigi un convegno sulla questione di come dovrebbe essere regolato l’audit, organizzato da The Journal of Regulation, da l’Ecole de droit de la Sorbonne e KPMG France, partner privilegiato della rivista. I partecipanti erano Jean-Luc Decornoy, Nathalie de Basaldua, Alain Couret, Marie-Anne Frison-Roche, Christine Thin, Stephen Haddrill, Claude Cazes, Etienne Wasmer e Mara Cameran. Le riflessioni e le discussioni si sono concentrate sul Libro Verde della Commissione europea sulla politica in materia di audit. L’ambizione del convegno era di studiare i nessi metodologici che devono costituire le linee guida dell’audit, tenendo conto della regolazione finanziare e della libera concorrenza. Il convegno mirava inoltre ad analizzare le possibili piste di una riforma dell’audit, sulla base anche di studi di tipo economico. Ogni partecipante ha sottolineato che lo scopo più importante era quello di assicurare un’attività di audit di grande qualità, e che tutti gli sforzi dovrebbero convergere verso tale scopo.

 SPANISH

Informe bibliográfico (Simposio): ¿En qué dirección debe dirigirse la regulación?

El 20 de mayo del 2011 se llevó a cabo un coloquio en París sobre la cuestión de “Cómo debe regularse la auditoría?” organizado por The Journal of Regulation, l’école de droit de la Sorbonne y el KPMG France, uno de los asociados principales de esta publicación. Los participantes incluyen Jean-Luc Decornoy, Nathalie de Basaldua, Alain Couret, Marie-Anne Frison-Roche, Christine Thin, Stephen Haddrill, Claude Cazes, Etienne Wasmer, and Mara Cameran. Las reflecciones y discusiones se centraron sobre el Papel Verde de la Comisión Europea sobre la política auditiva. La ambición de este coloquio era de discutir las conexiones metodológicas que deben guiar el futuro de la Auditoría, tanto en relación con la regulación de finanzas y la competencia, y también de analizar cuáles deben de ser las inspiraciones para la reforma de la auditoría, especialmente al usar los estudios económicos disponibles. Cada participante concertó que el objetivo más importante era de asegurar que la auditoría sea de alta calidad, y que todo ha de converger hacia este objetivo.

 

PORTUGUESE

Informe bibliográfico (Symposium): vers quelle régulation de l’audit faut-il aller ? Como deveria a auditoria ser regulada?

Em 20 de maio de 2011, um colóquio foi realizado em Paris sobre a questão Como deveria a auditoria ser regulada?, organizado por The Journal of Regulation, l’Ecole de droit de la Sorbonne, e KPMG France, um dos principais parceiros deste periódico. Os participantes foram Jean-Luc Decornoy, Nathalie de Basaldua, Alain Couret, Marie-Anne Frison-Roche, Christine Thin, Stephen Haddrill, Claude Cazes, Etienne Wasmer, e Mara Cameran. As reflexões e discussões surgiram a partir do Informe Verde sobre Política de Auditoria da Comissão Europeia. O propósito do colóquio foi discutir as ligações metodológicas que devem guiar o futuro da auditoria, ambos em relação com regulação financeira e concorrência, e também analizar quais deveriam ser as inspirações para a reforma da auditoria, especialmente usando os estudos econômicos disponíveis. Todos os participantes concordaram que o objetivo mais importante seria assegurar que a auditoria é de alta qualidade, e que tudo deve convergir para este objetivo.

Padrão contábil – Alternativa financeira – Auditoria – Mercado de auditoria – Falência – Big Four – Certificação – Colóquio – Concentração – Confiança – Conflito de interesses – Cooperação – Custo – Agência de notação – Operador crucial – Definição – Deontologia – Mercado desregulado – Eficiência – Europa – Mercado europeu de auditoria – Comissão Europeia – Especulação – Crise financeira – Mercado financeiro – Futuro – Mercado global – Objetivo – Informe Verde sobre auditoria – Incentivo – Independência – Informação – Informação assimétrica – Fórum de auditoria internacional – Itália – Auditoria conjunta – Responsabilidade – Gerente – Votação obrigatória – Mercado – Expectativas de mercado – Micro economia – Acaso moral – Opacidade – Opinião – Perímetro – Preço – Lucro – Bem público – Interesse público – Serviço público – Qualidade – Economia real – Informação do risco – Ceticismo – Responsabilidade social – Risco sistêmico – Raciocínio teleológico – Trust – Reino Unido – Estados Unidos da América.*

 

* Em The Journal of Regulation, estas palavras-chave são fornecidas pelo Editor e não pelo Autor.

 

 

Other translations forthcoming.