The Wrong Phoenix Rising

The author argues that the 2007 financial crisis failed to diminish the power of the banking lobby in shaping regulatory rules. Focusing on bank capital adequacy standards set by the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision (BCBS) and transposed into EU law via the Capital Requirements Directive (CRD IV), the text details how private financial actors dominate consultative processes. The author highlights how the banking sector successfully lobbied to delay the phase-in of Basel III requirements until 2018 and limited the application of the leverage ratio until 2017 by citing potential negative economic impacts. To counter this 'capture' of regulators, the author proposes increasing the range of stakeholders—including green SMEs and pension funds—and implementing a 'legislative footprint' to ensure transparency in the policymaking process.

• The policymaking process for global financial regulation is exclusionary, with a heavy bias toward private financial actors. In two rounds of consultative papers issued by the BCBS, approximately 70 per cent of comments came from private financial actors and 15 per cent from supervisors, while only a few Civil Society Organisations provided input out of 443 letters.
• European policymakers have used the Basel capital accords to advance European financial market integration, applying standards to all European banks despite the accords being originally intended only for large internationalised banks.
• The banking lobby successfully resisted the stringent implementation of Basel III by arguing that high capital requirements would hinder the economic recovery and the ability of banks to fund it.
• Specific regulatory concessions were won by the banking lobby: the phase-in of the new accord is extended to 2018, and the leverage ratio will only be 'tested' until 2017.
• The author proposes enhancing democratic accountability through a 'legislative footprint' and a broader range of stakeholders, such as innovative green SMEs and pension funds, to balance the influence of the banking sector.

APA

Blom, J. (2014). The Wrong Phoenix Rising. Green European Journal. https://www.greeneuropeanjournal.eu/the-wrong-pheonix-rising/

Chicago

Blom, J.G.W. The Wrong Phoenix Rising. Green European Journal, 2014. https://www.greeneuropeanjournal.eu/the-wrong-pheonix-rising/.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Blom |first1=J.G.W. |title=The Wrong Phoenix Rising |publisher=Green European Journal |date=1 January 2014 |url=https://www.greeneuropeanjournal.eu/the-wrong-pheonix-rising/ |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{blom2014wrong, author = {Blom, J.G.W.}, title = {{The Wrong Phoenix Rising}}, institution = {Green European Journal}, year = {2014}, month = jan, url = {https://www.greeneuropeanjournal.eu/the-wrong-pheonix-rising/}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }