ABSTRACT
This study sought to contribute to a fuller empirical understanding of the impact of the 1988 Basel Accord on the regulatory behavior of the industrialized world. It endeavored to understand if an international financial “soft law” regime could produce any impact on state behavior in the absence of a political or judicial enforcement mechanism. The Accord did not produce a legally binding constraint nor did it prescribe a homogeneous selection of rules. Counterparty states agreed to adhere to a set of minimum best practices and were given wide latitudes for exercising discretionary policies and remain “in compliance” with the Accord.
