ABSTRACT
In response to the progress of financial globalization over the past decades a globalization of financial regulation has also been attempted, by construction of so-called “international standards” or “international best practices” deemed essential to ensuring both international financial stability and a level playing field for international financial institutions. Financial regulations across countries have as a result to a considerable extent converged on such standards over the past decades, at least on the surface. Such international regulatory harmonization is surprising, especially considering that most of these standards have been club standards created by agreement among limited numbers of developed countries only, while non-club member countries have had no obligations to adopt them. Indeed, one of the major academic debates with regard to international financial regulation has centered around the question of what has been behind this international regulatory harmonization.
