Symposia

A Response to Pierre-Hugues Verdier by Stavros Gadinis

[Stavros Gadinis, an Assistant Professor of Law at U.C. Berkeley School of Law, responds to Pierre-Hugues Verdier, Mutual Recognition in International Finance] Pierre Verdier's piece, "Mutual Recognition in International Finance," centers on a fundamental question in this area of the law: how can regulators from one state admit inside their borders institutions and products shaped under another state's regime, without imposing additional requirements to admission? Lifting regulatory barriers is the primary step towards a truly global financial market, because it removes high transaction costs that constrain capital flows. However, opening the regulatory gateways to foreigners is a matter of heated debate, which typically evokes rational objections as well as deep-rooted fears: do these foreign institutions and products provide to investors similar safeguards to those honed after decades of domestic regulation? Will the sudden influx of - perhaps more cost-effective - foreign providers put the domestic industry in a competitive disadvantage? Could the admission of foreigners ultimately undermine the importance of domestic regulators by providing an official back-door channel into a closely guarded domestic market?

Mutual Recognition in International Finance by Pierre-Hugues Verdier

[Pierre-Hugues Verdier, an Associate Professor of Law at the University of Virginia School of Law, describes his recently published article Mutual Recognition in International Finance] In the absence of an international organization devoted to financial regulation, the rapid globalization of finance since the 1970s has taken place against a legal background shaped primarily by national regulators.  As the multiplication of large, transnational financial institutions and cross-border transactions increased the need for international policy coordination, regulators responded by setting up transgovernmental regulatory networks (TRNs) and adopting soft law instruments.  In an article published in 2009, I argued that TRNs suffered from significant limitations stemming from domestic legal and political constraints, their inability to overcome distributive obstacles to harmonization, and their lack of monitoring and enforcement capabilities.  In the aftermath of the financial crisis, many commentators agree that existing coordination mechanisms did not live up to expectations in pivotal areas such as bank capital standards.  Thus, while TRNs are likely to remain an important component of financial governance, we need a more complete understanding of the various means through which states can cooperate to ensure effective cross-border financial regulation and market access.

Harvard International Law Journal, Vol. 52(1): Online Symposium

The Harvard International Law Journal is proud to partake in its inaugural online symposium hosted by Opinio Juris. Beginning today, each day this week we will be bringing you discussion surrounding one of the articles in our recently released Volume 52, Issue 1. We would like to thank Opinio Juris for partnering with us, as well as the many contributors...

Inaugural Harvard International Law Journal/Opinio Juris Symposium

We here at Opinio Juris are very pleased to host this coming week our first on-line symposium featuring work from the Harvard International Law Journal. For those interested in a preview of the week's events, here's the line-up: On Monday, Stavros Gadinis and Eric Pan will respond to Pierre-Hugues Verdier's article, Mutual Recognition in International Finance On Tuesday, Samuel Issacharoff will respond...

A Response to Frans G von der Dunk by Steven Freeland

I would like to thank Professor von der Dunk – who is a close friend and highly respected colleague – for taking the time to provide his thoughtful responses to my article ‘Fly Me to the Moon: How Will International Law Cope with Commercial Space Tourism’, published recently in the Melbourne Journal of International Law. Professor von der Dunk and...

A Response to Steven Freeland by Frans G von der Dunk

[Frans G von der Dunk holds the Harvey & Susan Perlman Alumni and Othmer Chair of Space Law at the University of Nebraska College of Law.] The contribution of Professor Freeland to the important debate on the legal aspects of private manned spaceflights, as per his article 'Fly Me to the Moon: How Will International Law Cope with Commercial Space Tourism'...

‘Fly Me to the Moon: How Will International Law Cope with Commercial Space Tourism?’ by Steven Freeland

[Steven Freeland is a Professor in International Law at the University of Western Sydney, Australia, Visiting Professor of International Law at the University of Copenhagen, a member of the Space Law Committee at the International Law Association, a member of the Directorate of Studies at the International Institute of Space Law and a Faculty Member of the London Institute of...