On the Way to a New Financial Order
The financial centre Frankfurt is taking a look at the future in the finance sector - in the Frankfurt Main Finance Year Book 2010. Renowned authors such as the president of the Deutsche Bundesbank, Axel Weber, the minister president of the State of Hesse, Roland Koch, and professor of finance Jan Pieter Krahnen discuss the future architecture of the global financial system. The Frankfurt Main Finance Year Book 2010 is accordingly titled, "Work in Progress."
The contrasts between regulation and economic responsibility dominate the current discussion regarding the future of the finance industry. The year book's main objective is therefore to stimulate and enrich the debate with new and unconventional approaches. This entails the inclusion of various points of view found throughout society. A prominent example is that of a debate in which Heribert Bruchhagen, the chairman of the Eintracht Frankfurt soccer club, discusses the salaries of managers and players.
A moderate balance between regulation and the responsibility of the industry
Roland Koch, minister president of the State of Hesse, supports a moderate balance between political regulation and personal responsibility within the financial sector. He feels it is a matter of securing the legitimacy of the market-economy based economic system. Trust can be created through regulation, but it must be supported by responsible actions in the financial sector. The financial centre Frankfurt, in particular, is in a position to make a significant contribution to the general financial discussion.
Axel Weber, president of the Deutsche Bundesbank, is concerned with the need for a systematic dimension in financial supervision. This creates an important role particularly for the Frankfurt based European Systemic Risk Board (ESRB). He also reemphasizes the Central Bank's readiness to completely assume the supervision of banks in Germany.
Risk map for crisis prevention
Prof. Dr. Jan Pieter Krahnen, director of the Center for Financial Studies (CFS) and Prof. Dr. Helmut Siekmann, director of the Institute for Monetary and Financial Stability, suggest various alternative measures for crisis prevention and intervention in their article. They suggest, for example, the introduction of a risk map, as well as a Systemic Risk Charge, in efforts to prevent systemic crises.
A common vision for Europe as a financial centre is being developed by Arnaud de Bresson, Chief Executive Officer of Paris Europlace, Lutz Raettig, Spokesman for the Executive Committee of Frankfurt Main Finance, and André Villeneuve, chairman of the City of London International Regulatory Strategy Group. They feel that – in spite of their competition – a cooperation of the leading european financial centres in education and research, as well as in the marketing of common strengths is possible.
