Rightly or wrongly, inadequate regulation of finance has taken much of the blame for the global financial crisis. International organisations and governments around the world have spent the past three years designing a new regime of regulation. In Australia, the Basel III measures are being implemented. Other countries are going much further. Many of these measures may be warranted, but there are also concerns that the increase in regulation is misconceived and will act as an avoidable brake on economic recovery and long-term growth.

A roundtable discussion hosted by The Centre for Independent Studies in March 2012 examined issues such as the part played by banking regulation or regulatory failure in the global financial crisis, the suitability of regulatory responses announced in recent times both internationally and in Australia, the ‘too big to fail’ syndrome, and the economic implications of the new regulatory drive.