Legal Developments

This contribution analysis the main legal developments relating to the introduction of a new and extensive regulatory regime for financial supervision in the European Union. With this legal regime both micro- and macro-prudential supervisory aspects of the internal market are addressed. The contribution provides a compact legal analysis of the institutional structures of the three new supervisory authorities, namely the European Banking Authority (EBA), the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) and the European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority (EIOPA). In this context als the new European Systemic Risk Board (ESRB) is discussed. What is more, the contribution critically reviews the 2010 measures by the Member States and the European Union to rescue Member states in financial distress. Finally, the contribution examines some important judgments of the Court of Justice of the European Union from 2010 linked to the internal market and namely the free movement of persons. The theme of this contribution can be linked to the ESL research program 'Rethinking the Rule of Law in an Era of Globalisation, Privatisation, and Multiculturalisation' and in particular the subprogram 'Decrypting the Public Power Paradigm in Denationalising and Privatising Legal Orders'. The recent EU reforms in the sphere of financial market regulation and supervision are a direct response to the global economic and financial crisis that has been facilitated by the opening of national markets and the creation of global financial markets. The underlying issue is how regulation and supervision can be effectively organized in such a denationalized marketplace.