Part I The General Context, 5 The Lawmaker, the Regulator, and Current Preoccupations

Subject(s):

Credit risk — Financial stability — Regulators

This chapter considers the role of lawmakers and regulators in managing legal risk. It argues that English law must be able to cope with the changing nature of market transactions as well as ensure that the regulatory framework keeps pace with changing risk profiles. Steps must be taken to prevent a mismatch between the expectation of the law and modern commercial reality. The lawmaker’s job is never finished or complete since the sections of society principally affected by what we loosely call ‘financial law’ are in a state of virtually constant change and so the demands of the legal system are also constantly changing. Regulators also develop enforceable rules and standards despite the probability that any financial misdemeanour by a regulated body will be blamed on the regulator.