The Risks of the Shadow Banking System in Europe: The Perspective of the Banking Supervisor

Faced with the challenges raised by shadow banking for financial stability, this article deals with two major issues. On the one hand, it presents the risks created by the shadow banking system and shows that it raises specific risks, as well as complex interactions with the banking system. On the other hand, the article aims at determining the best regulatory framework to address them. It describes the major improvements that have been brought to banking regulation contributing to a form of “indirect” regulation of shadow banking: by setting rigorous standards for banking groups, one may influence operations within the unregulated sector. The financial crisis demonstrated, however, that this approach was necessary but not sufficient. Today, there is a certain consensus for a dual approach to go forward: to elaborate “horizontal” regulations for some specific activities and to limit or even ban some activities for banks, without however jeopardizing banking business models.