The current framework of EU regulation concerning capital markets is complex and partly inconsistent in the way that it is applied in the various Member States. Through the Capital Markets Union (CMU) project the European Union is pursuing the goal of establishing a true single market for capital in Europe. Regulating EU Capital Markets Union: Fundamentals of a European Code is the first of a two-volume series proposing the codification of EU legislature as a way to establish this goal. This book analyses all existing capital markets regulation. It explains the idea of codification, looks at the added value of a European Capital Markets Code, discusses key concepts of the current regimes and elaborates on the goals of the future codification act. The work explores the idea that the provisions spread over numerous rulebooks should be brought together in a single legal act in the form of a regulation and organized in a systematic way to reduce complexity thereby facilitating accessibility of capital markets law. Drawing on the experience of academics from various European countries, this volume discusses possible contents of a European Capital Markets Code, addresses approaches to regulatory reforms and explores the role of private enforcement.

With the European Commission’s announcement of the Capital Markets Union in 2016, a major step was at last taken to provide for the special needs of small and medium enterprises (SMEs). This book presents the first in-depth legal analysis of the challenges that SMEs have to face when managing their balance sheets and trying to attract investors, what alternative financing tools are most effective and how recent legislation reaches fair and convenient conditions for SMEs. The analysis focuses specifically on the Capital Markets Union structure and on other European initiatives that support and enhance SMEs’ raising money on capital markets in order to better diversify their investments and plan a growth and development strategy. An updated description of the European framework is provided, together with references to relevant national systems. Issues and topics covered include the following: need for long-lasting access to funds; securitization for SMEs; SME Z-score; crowdfunding; and peer-to-peer, minibond and accounts receivables financing. Case study analyses furnish a deep understanding of the financial structures and their main features. Appendices include English texts of the main European Union (EU) legal documents pertaining to SMEs. For SMEs discouraged by over-regulation designed for larger businesses, and who find themselves in difficulties when they have to face the required process, this book will prove to be of immeasurable practical value. This book represents one of the first publications on SMEs and finance and contains data and information resulting from a deep and well-focused research on the topic. The added value of this study will allow the academics to understand the main issues related to this topic and will provide for a steady basis for further research and analysis with regards to law and economics for SMEs. Furthermore, it will be also warmly welcomed by practitioners in the area of SME financing and will be useful to support them in the selection of the most appropriate tools for their clients. Banks and interested EU officials will also value its clear and straightforward approach to the subject.

This is the first of a two-volume series that examines the current EU capital markets regimes and explores codification as a means for achieving a true single market for capital in Europe.

Master's Thesis from the year 2014 in the subject Business economics - Investment and Finance, grade: 1,5, Frankfurt School of Finance & Management, course: Corporate Finance, language: English, abstract: Total financing volumes and financing structures are important indicators for numerous real economic and financial developments. Financing decisions are based primarily on investment decisions, but also provide indications for financing conditions for companies in the money and capital markets. The financial crisis starting in 2007 and 2008 affected these markets in Germany in various ways. The spillover of the crisis to Germany can, to a considerable degree, be explained by the fact that German credit institutions had reached the brink of collapse. One central problem and cause of the crisis was poor risk monitoring, for instance through rating agencies on the US securitization market. The burden on banks due to crisis-induced write-downs as well as the drying-up of interbank money markets, which resulted in refinancing problems for numerous credit institutions, created a fear of a potential ‘credit crunch’ for companies or the economy at large. This means the main macroeconomic concern was that the restriction on credit supply might be severe enough to cause an economic crisis. As a result of these disturbances, the regulating authorities put forth several new measures, provisions and rules. As a lesson learned, one central task should be strengthening the resilience of the financial system to future crises. The work in hand, focuses on the effects of the Basel III regulations as these, on the one hand, are already being enforced and, on the other hand, have a considerable impact on corporate finance and corporate banking business models. The Basel III Accords concerning higher capital requirements for banks were already underway before the financial crisis hit, but the legislators and supervisory authorities accelerated their implementation after the onset of the crisis. In its aftermath, the economy experienced historically low levels of interest rates as a result of monetary policy. Nevertheless, the conventional wisdom of scientists, consultants, and other experts was shaped by the experience that bank loans tend to become more expensive and scarcer when when new regulatory requirements are introduced. They advised companies to shift their debt capital structures from major bank loan financing, which has historically been the major source in Germany, to more capital market financing instruments.

The aim of this paper is threefold: first to establish how the regulatory and supervisory architecture has evolved in Europe over the last decade; second to determine how the shortcomings of the present system affected the onslaught of the financial crisis in Europe; and lastly, to evaluate whether the proposed regulatory and supervisory reforms are likely to successfully repair these weaknesses.

Seminar paper from the year 2011 in the subject Law - Comparative Legal Systems, Comparative Law, The University of Texas at Austin, language: English, abstract: Money makes the world go round. If not a truism, at least it holds for financial markets. The amount of capital traded thereupon outreaches human imagination by far. At the same time, financial markets create specific dangers for their participants. These dangers are essentially predicated upon information asymmetries between companies as capital seekers and investors as capital providers. The traditional approach to eliminate these information asymmetries is by regulation rather than leaving the solution to the market mechanism . Thus, financial markets are regulated markets. The means of such regulation are usually twofold. First, capital seekers are imposed upon a duty to disclose material information. Secondly, if they do not sufficiently comply with this duty, sanctions are imposed. This, of course, poses the question of who can enforce these legal rules. The answer is twofold. Some rules create private causes of action enabling the impaired party to seek relief with the courts. Others provide for enforcement by an administrative agency. This, however, raises the question which agency is called to perform this task. Traditionally, the answer has been easy as financial markets used to be national markets. Consequently, pursuant to traditional concepts of sovereignty in international law, each country could and would determine the competent agency. Regulation was and still mainly is national. Meanwhile, globalization and the revolution in telecommunication technology have blurred the borderlines between originally separated financial markets. Financial markets are now becoming international markets. This reveals an incongruity. Although financial markets are international markets, they are nationally regulated. One might suggest implementing an international regulation to avoid this discrepancy and, in