: 
Global Law Working Papers
2007 Series
GLWP 03/07
Author
Stefano Cappiello
Global Fellow from Government (2005-2006)
Title
"Supervision and Class Action against Conflicts of Interest in 'Universal Banking': The U.S. Experience vis-a-vis Recent Italian Initiatives"
Abstract
The article focuses on US legal instruments that prevent and sanction abuses from conflicts of interests. It illustrates the guidelines of the U.S. supervision system after the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act (Par. 2) and the essential and most debated features of the US class action (Par. 3), to conclude with a number of remarks on Italian legislative initiatives concerning: (a) rules establishing organizational constraints in universal banks; (b) proposed procedural rules would aggregate lawsuits, aim at facilitating investors' access to justice (Par. 4). The evolution of the U.S. regulatory framework provides two useful indications. First, it shows the rationale underpinning the U.S. flexible approach, according to which financial intermediaries are responsible for the selection and implementation of the governance system that they deem more adequate. Second, it urges to look for legal and market instruments that can help mitigate the risk that the collective action becomes an opportunity for the extraction of "private benefits" of various agents involved in the representation of investors' interests.
Contact the Author
stefano.cappiello@bancaditalia.it
