ABSTRACT
This introduction presents an overview of key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book presents eight country studies on the implementation of the European Directives on banking and finance in the period from the introduction of the Single European Act to the global financial crisis. It provides a narrative of the domestic financial regulatory structure at the beginning of the period, defined as the date of the Single European Act, as well the means by which the European Union (EU) Directives have been introduced into domestic legislation and the impact on the financial structure of the economy. The Directives have been modified to meet the existing domestic conditions and financial structure as incorporated into national legislation. The country studies cover a second range of issues in which greater national discretion allowed for increased divergence in those lightly or partially regulated financial operations, including deposit guarantee schemes, recovery and resolution procedures and accounting standards.
