The Center for Financial Innovation and Stability (Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta) and the Center for the Economic Analysis of Risk (Georgia State University) are organizing the conference Financial Regulation: Fit for the Future? to be held at the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta on November 2–3, 2017. The aim of the conference is to bring together economists, statisticians, finance professionals, and regulators in order to discuss whether financial regulation as currently structured is appropriate for the financial system of the future.

Regulators around the world responded to the 2007 to 2009 financial crisis with a determination to reduce the likelihood and potential impact of a future financial crisis. To this end, a variety of new measures are being implemented, including Basel III capital and liquidity, stress tests, living wills, restrictions on over-the-counter (OTC) derivatives, and stricter regulation of nonbank financial firms. Some observers argue that these measures have not gone far enough, and propose measures to break up large banks or require them to hold even more capital. However, financial firms and many others say the pendulum has already swung too far in the direction of reregulation. As a result, they argue regulation is stifling financial firms' ability to support their customers, the financial system, and growth in the real economy. Further, some are questioning whether the traditional approach to regulation is inhibiting the development of new financial technologies that promise greater efficiency and perhaps increased safety. This conference seeks to look back to evaluate the benefits and the costs of enhanced postcrisis regulation as well as to look forward to the effect of regulations on the development of financial technology.

Paper Submission
We invite academics, professionals, and regulators to submit papers for this meeting. Long abstracts or, preferably, complete manuscripts may be submitted no later than August 14, 2017, on the full range of issues associated with whether financial regulation is fit for the future. Some examples of possible topics include the costs and/or the benefits of:

  • The new capital regulations, including Basel III and stress tests
  • The Basel III liquidity regulation: liquidity coverage ratio (LCR) and/or the net stable funding ratio (NSFR)
  • The resolution strategies pursued in the United States and European Union, including living wills and total loss absorbing capital (TLAC)
  • Postcrisis tightening of the regulation of over-the-counter derivatives
  • The designation of some insurers as "globally systemically important," subjecting them to stricter regulation
  • Measures that limit banks' ability to make bond markets, such as the Volcker rule and limits on leverage
  • Imposing even stricter regulatory requirements on commercial and investment banks, insurers, and/or shadow banks
  • Any regulation that is inhibiting the development of fintech firms and/or that has the effect of enhancing their ability to compete (such as the EU's Payment Services Directive 2, or PSD2).

Please send your submissions in PDF format directly to Larry Wall, who may also be contacted for any further inquiries at larry.wall@atl.frb.org. The results of the selection process will be sent by September 15, 2017. Reasonable travel and accommodation expenses will be covered for the presenters of accepted papers.