Financial Regulators Need a Foreign Policy

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Past Event

Financial Regulators Need a Foreign Policy

November 14, 2019
4:45 PM - 6:15 PM
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Eric Pan is currently Senior Research Fellow and Adj. Professor of Law, Columbia Law School & Former Director of International Affairs, US CFTC. From 2015-2019, Eric was the Director of the Office of International Affairs at the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission where he oversaw CFTC international initiatives, provided guidance regarding international issues raised in Commission matters, and represented the CFTC in international bodies, including the International Organization of Securities Commissions (IOSCO) and the Financial Stability Board (FSB). He was responsible for all CFTC engagement with non-US regulatory counterparts, including those in Europe, China, India and Japan, and managed the development and governance of international workstreams involving the CFTC (press release announcing departure).   

In thinking about what financial regulators do, attention is typically focused on regulators’ traditional activities, such as rulewriting, enforcement or inspections/supervision.  Too little attention is paid to international coordination as a regulatory function.  The globalization of markets has made this inattention problematic as domestic agencies are finding it increasingly difficult to carry out their missions without also mastering the ability to control international standards setting agendas.  They need to understand how international standard setting bodies work and how to build international consensus.  Examples of this difficulty can be found in how U.S. regulatory agencies responded to the Global Financial Crisis, deal today with new regulatory issues like crypto-assets and fintech, and confront external developments like data protection and cybersecurity.