Apologies for cross-posting

Dear Colleagues,

I am pleased to announce the recent publication of my new book: International Harmonization of Financial Regulation? The Politics of Global Diffusion of the Basel Capital Accord (London and New York: Routledge).

Hardcover: 232 pages
ISBN-10: 0415812429
ISBN-13: 978-0415812429

Summary:

It is often argued that international financial regulation has been substantially strengthened over the past decades through the international harmonization of financial regulation. There are, however, still frequent outbreaks of painful financial crises, including the recent 2008 global financial crisis. This raises doubts about the conventional claims of the strengthening of international financial regulation.
This book provides an in-depth political economy study of the adoptions in Japan, Korea and Taiwan of the 1988 Basel Capital Accord, the now so-called Basel I, which has been at the center of international banking regulation over the past three decades, highlighting the domestic politics surrounding it. The book illustrates that, despite banks' formal compliance with the Accord in these countries, their compliance was often cosmetic due to extensive regulatory forbearance that allowed their real capital soundness to weaken. Domestic politics thus ultimately determined national implementations of the Accord. This book provides its novel innovative study of the Accord through scores of interviews with bank regulators and analysis of various primary documents. It suggests that the actual effectiveness of international financial regulation relies ultimately on the domestic politics surrounding it. It implies as well that the past trend of international harmonization of financial regulation may be illusory, to at least some extent, in terms of its actual effectiveness.
This book may interest not only political economists but also scholars working on the intersection of law, economics and institutions.

(Although this book does not focus exclusively on Japan, it does include significant new findings related to Japan and the Basel Accord: [1] The book provides a novel analysis of the role of Japan in the creation of the Accord, demonstrating that Japan successfully managed to conclude it in ways that protected its own interest. This finding challenges the long-prevailing view that Japan was the major victim of the Accord. [2] The book also explains the political factors that caused Japan's failure in bank capital regulation through the 1990s and early 2000s.)

Contents:

1. Introduction: International Harmonization and Domestic Politics in Passive Adopters Part I:
Harmonization 2. Creation of the 1988 Basel Accord 3.
Non-Committee Members prior to the Accord 4. External Pressures for Accord Compliance Part II: Compliance 5.
Japan: Persistent Cosmetic Compliance 6. South Korea: A Shift from Cosmetic to More Effective Compliance 7.
Taiwan: Weakening Effective Compliance 8. Conclusion

Kind regards,

Hyoung-kyu