The regulatory response to financial innovation

The credit crisis triggered profound changes in financial markets and institutions. Sine it started, regulators have sought to address the systemic failure that led to it. They have named, shamed and fined the guilty parties (see table). That said, regulators have yet to fundamentally question their own failure to keep pace with financial innovation. They should not forget that it was the creation and promotion of new financial instruments, technologies and business models that sowed the seeds of the crisis. Unless we become more pro-active in regulating them, we are set to repeat the mistakes of the past in novel new ways.