Rogues and regulation in global finance: Maxwell, Leeson and the City of London

In this paper, I explore the culture of the finance industry in general and, in particular, the problems of dealing with socalled rogue behaviour in the context of regulation and regulatory regimes. The reference points for analysis are the recent cases of Robert Maxwell, the British entrepreneur wh...

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Tác giả chính: Clark, G
Tác giả khác: Regional Studies Association
Định dạng: Journal article
Ngôn ngữ:English
Được phát hành: Routledge 1997
Những chủ đề:
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author Clark, G
author2 Regional Studies Association
author_facet Regional Studies Association
Clark, G
author_sort Clark, G
collection OXFORD
description In this paper, I explore the culture of the finance industry in general and, in particular, the problems of dealing with socalled rogue behaviour in the context of regulation and regulatory regimes. The reference points for analysis are the recent cases of Robert Maxwell, the British entrepreneur who is thought by many to have systematically 'fleeced' his companies' pension funds to finance complex corporate deals, and Nick Leeson, the Barings trader (in Singapore) who, it is commonly believed, single-handedly bankrupted the bank. While no doubt provocative and the subjects of considerable speculation regarding their true motives, I argue that the Maxwell and Leeson cases are representative of a strategy of demonization and selective representation designed to protect the reputations of existing institutions. In this respect, I focus upon three issues: the representation of behaviour; the significance of an industry's culture for individual behaviour; and the scope of regulation. The paper includes a discussion of the flawed logic of explanations of individual behaviour that do not take seriously the context of behaviour. To illustrate, I begin with Mrs Maxwell's recent biography of her late husband and then concentrate on recent government reports and commentaries related to Leeson and the Barings' collapse. The paper concludes with an analysis of these issues with reference to the global regulation of the securities industry.
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spelling oxford-uuid:80bbd59d-0e40-4be1-b73d-1d78f26d04c42022-03-26T21:25:20ZRogues and regulation in global finance: Maxwell, Leeson and the City of LondonJournal articlehttp://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_dcae04bcuuid:80bbd59d-0e40-4be1-b73d-1d78f26d04c4GeographyFinanceEnglishOxford University Research Archive - ValetRoutledge1997Clark, GRegional Studies AssociationIn this paper, I explore the culture of the finance industry in general and, in particular, the problems of dealing with socalled rogue behaviour in the context of regulation and regulatory regimes. The reference points for analysis are the recent cases of Robert Maxwell, the British entrepreneur who is thought by many to have systematically 'fleeced' his companies' pension funds to finance complex corporate deals, and Nick Leeson, the Barings trader (in Singapore) who, it is commonly believed, single-handedly bankrupted the bank. While no doubt provocative and the subjects of considerable speculation regarding their true motives, I argue that the Maxwell and Leeson cases are representative of a strategy of demonization and selective representation designed to protect the reputations of existing institutions. In this respect, I focus upon three issues: the representation of behaviour; the significance of an industry's culture for individual behaviour; and the scope of regulation. The paper includes a discussion of the flawed logic of explanations of individual behaviour that do not take seriously the context of behaviour. To illustrate, I begin with Mrs Maxwell's recent biography of her late husband and then concentrate on recent government reports and commentaries related to Leeson and the Barings' collapse. The paper concludes with an analysis of these issues with reference to the global regulation of the securities industry.
spellingShingle Geography
Finance
Clark, G
Rogues and regulation in global finance: Maxwell, Leeson and the City of London
title Rogues and regulation in global finance: Maxwell, Leeson and the City of London
title_full Rogues and regulation in global finance: Maxwell, Leeson and the City of London
title_fullStr Rogues and regulation in global finance: Maxwell, Leeson and the City of London
title_full_unstemmed Rogues and regulation in global finance: Maxwell, Leeson and the City of London
title_short Rogues and regulation in global finance: Maxwell, Leeson and the City of London
title_sort rogues and regulation in global finance maxwell leeson and the city of london
topic Geography
Finance
work_keys_str_mv AT clarkg roguesandregulationinglobalfinancemaxwellleesonandthecityoflondon