Book review: Internet Banking and the Law in Europe...with final question

Some time ago I had the occasion and the pleasure to read the following contribution to the debate about electronic banking and European regulations: “Internet Banking and the Law in Europe. Regulation, Financial Integration and Electronic Commerce”, by Apostolos Ath. Gkoutzinis, Cambridge University Press.

This book tackles the issue of internet banking in Europe from different legal perspectives, including legal barriers to market access, governance of cross-border electronic banking activities, conflict of rules in the field of the regulation of cross-border banking activities, applicable law and regulatory responsibility in cross-border banking activities.

One of the main questions that are addressed by the author regards the power allocated to the national baking regulators to monitor the activities of foreign (e.g. of other EU countries) banks: according to the (correct) interpretation of the applicable Directives (EU Financial Services Directives, Banking and Investment Services Directives, Banking Consolidation Directive, Electronic Commerce Directive) proposed by the author, the country of origin or the home country of the financial institution (e.g. the country where the institution is established) should have the sole power to monitor its activities, with effects in all the EU Member States.

From the legal point we must agree with these considerations: it has to be said that all these Directives move from the idea that, in practice or at least in theory, the regulatory authorities of all the Member States operate at a comparable level. The experience of the last months show that this statement is far from being true.

A question for the readers: maybe we have to realize that the harmonization of functions, powers and efficiency of national regulatory authority in the EU is fictitious and that it should be appropriate that EU States do not trust each other when talking about financial issues and their regulation?