The organization of global financial markets

The paper discusses the function of law in the formation of global financial markets and how this process affects at the same time the traditional concept of law. The examples used to illustrate this point include the prohibition of insider trading, the battle over accounting standards, the changing framework of capital adequacy rules for commercial banking, and the reshaping of the structure of important market participants in the U.S., in Germany, and in Japan. (JEL: F 20, K 20).