Global financial governance and the informal: limits to the regulation of money

The list of predicate crimes for the Recommendations of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) has evolved and grown over its twenty-five year existence. The evolution of this list reflects shifting concerns among the central actors in the organisation, as well as representing a response to any ‘displacement’ activity undertaken by those seeking to avoid these forms of governance. When the scope for cooperation and compliance with the FATF Forty Recommendations was extended beyond the organisation’s membership this governance regime encountered business sectors and financial practices not readily amenable to its objectives. This paper considers the causes and consequences for the situation, as developing economy states attempt to comply with the global governance expectations of the FATF when a significant portion of the domestic economy operates ‘informally’. A frame of reference is provided, with a definition for the informal economy and the concept of displacement as used in research on criminal activity. The focus here is with the nature of the cash economy operating beyond the scope of financial surveillance with implications for the comprehensive effectiveness of the global financial governance regime. The context of informal financial practice and its separation from the regulatory structures of the state leads to a conclusion that global financial governance is limited in practice to the domain of the formal economy.     

Reputations and corporate malfeasance: collusive networks in financial statement fraud

The prevailing theory used by economists to explain why more corporations do not engage in fraud focuses on the role of board members, auditors and banks in controlling corporate conduct and the “reputational penalties” that may be imposed on them if they fail to do so. In this view, beyond the formal sanctions imposed by criminal justice and regulatory agencies, these “control agents” are subject to extra-legal consequences for misconduct or failure to perform their duties in which their reputations for honesty and integrity are diminished and thus their value in the marketplace for their services declines. The “reputational penalty” theory has been challenged by recent work that asserts that these entities, far from controlling the behavior of corporate insiders, may form networks of “reputational intermediaries” who collude with corporate executives to give legitimacy to their illegal schemes. In this paper, empirical support for the latter view is provided through an analysis of a sample of 374 publicly traded firms that announced financial restatements between 1997 and 2002 and which were accused of securities fraud. The analysis shows that these schemes involved large numbers of board members, auditors, and bankers who aided and abetted senior managers in their attempts to deceive investors. These findings point to broader issues concerning: (1) the changing nature of corporate power; (2) the strengths of collusive networks; and (3) current policy debates regarding attempts to exert more regulatory control over corporate behavior.     

Bank regulation and supervision in bank-dominated financial systems: a comparison between Japan and Germany

This paper compares bank regulation and supervision in Japan and Germany. We consider these countries because they both have bank-dominated financial systems and their banking systems are often lumped together as one model, yet, bank stability differs significantly. We show that Japan and Germany have chosen different approaches to bank regulation and supervision and ask why they made their choices. We argue that bank regulation and supervision were less efficient in Japan than in Germany and that these differences were decisive for bank behavior.

Correction to: Institutions and corporate financial distress in Central and Eastern Europe

European Journal of Law and Economics -     

The ethical implications of prospective payment and corporate medical practice: A research agenda

The major trends in the growth of prospective payment and the corporatization of medical practice in the United States are examined. In particular, the ethical implications of these changes in the context of the multiple system goals of access, cost containment, and quality are considered. Considerable concern is being expressed that with the dominant emphasis on cost containment, the principles of access and quality might be compromised. This paper formulates a research agenda to address this question, based on a review and synthesis of empirical evidence and hypotheses about the probable or actual impact of these changes on the multiple health system goals. A basic premise is that ethical judgments should be grounded in empirical evidence about what actually is or will be.     

The relationship between socio-economic characteristics, victimization and CPTED principles: evidence from the MIMIC model

This study seeks to explore how different house type, socio-economic variables in the neighborhood (length of residence and household income) and residents’ victimization experience influence Crime Prevention through Environmental Design (CPTED) and its respective principles: natural surveillance, access control, territoriality and maintenance. The study focuses on a sample of 164 inhabitants from a typical neighborhood in the city of Penang, Malaysia. An observation checklist was used to measure all the four principles of CPTED. A Multiple Indicator-Multiple Cause (MIMIC) analysis using AMOS 16.0 was employed to analyze the data at the level of individual property. Each latent factor and the relationships among them were modeled in a priori MIMIC hypothesized model. Prior to the MIMIC analysis, the study employed first and second-order confirmatory factor analysis on CPTED to determine the best indicators for the CPTED construct. The findings confirmed that CPTED is best measured by four principles. The results further indicate that CPTED is associated with a reduced risk of burglary victimization, while household income is positively associated with CPTED. The model shows that territoriality has a negative direct relationship with victimization. There are direct and positive influences of house type on natural surveillance and territoriality, while the length of residence only affects access control.     

The governance of the financial action task force: an analysis of power and influence throughout the years

The international fight against money laundering illustrates changes in global governance as a result of the increasingly cross-border nature of crime and the need it creates for all involved to cooperate. The economic priorities and security concerns that surround it contributed to the strong evolution of global governance in this area and the status of anti-money laundering as a shared problem. The creation of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), its expansion and cementation throughout the years, is a good example of the many forces working together to responding to the demands of emerging criminal threats and trends. It offers a good illustration of how relationships in global governance have influenced FATF’s priorities and action and ultimately the way in which illicit financial flows are tackled. This analysis offers an overview of FATF’s network across time taking into account the role of states, international organisations, and the private sector in the decision-making processes. It argues that Great Powers – a small, but aligned, group of states of global economic relevance – are responsible for FATF’s direction and the international efforts against illicit financial flows. It suggests, however, that unlike what could be expected, their power is declining following the rise of private sector influence through resourceful, organised and transnational actions e.g. on information sharing.     

Establishing the statistical relationship between population size and UCR crime rate: Its impact and implications

The fact that the volume of crime is related to the size of a jurisdiction's population has been well established. The relationship between crime rate and population size, however, is less clear. Crime rate presents crime on a per capita basis, and is intended to adjust for population size so that comparisons can be made. In this article, the author first establishes the statistical relationship between crime rate and population size. Once established, he conducted an analysis of crime rates in jurisdictions of various sizes and in a variety of population-based strata using data obtained from the Uniform Crime Reports (UCR). Based on his findings, the author discusses implications for research and analysis, database management, and making jurisdictional comparisons of crime rates.     

C. Wright Mills and higher immorality: implications for corporate crime,ethics, and peacemaking criminology

During the past decade, there was a resurgent tendency in criminology to explain emerging patterns of crime within the United States by referring solely to dysfunctional families or dysfunctional individuals. Other criminologists questioned these latter approaches as detaching individuals and crime from the social institutions that envelope them. In light of this recent attempt to link crime to social institutions, it seems fruitful to revisit the work of one of the most astute analysts of institutional structure: C. Wright Mills. Hence, this article begins with an overview of Mills’ sociological perspective and then shows how it provides useful insights into institutional sources of illegal behavior. The article also illustrates ways the Millsian perspective can be directly applied to an analysis of corporate crime in relation to other forms of crime emanating from the structure of contemporary U.S. society. After that, the article explores how the Millsian perspective can broaden understanding of the growing decline of ethics within America’s leading industries, governmental agencies, and the justice system. The article concludes by addressing policy implications, particularly in regard to the prospects of linking the Millsian perspective with basic tenets of peacemaking criminology.

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Ownership structure, regulation and the market for corporate control in the EU banking sector

This paper analyzes the efficiency of shareholder control and hostile takeovers as corporate governance mechanisms in the EU banking sector against the background of the existing corporate governance regulations and different ownership structures of banks in the EU. The results indicate the there is trade-off in EU corporate governance regulation between better investor protection and a higher efficiency of the market for corporate control. The main problem is differences in the ownership structure of banks in the EU banking sector. This implies that EU corporate governance regulations should be customized to the specific ownership structure of banks and not toward harmonising national regulations.     

论医患关系是民事法律关系中的合同关系

本文从民法的角度全面论述了医患关系的法律性质为民事法律关系中的合同关系 ,阐述并分析了医疗合同的订立与生效以及医患双方的主要权利与义务 ,并对医疗合同的特点作了系统性地论述。     

论医患关系是民事法律关系中的合同关系

本文从民法的角度全面论述了医患关系的法律性质为民事法律关系中的 合同关系,阐述并分析了医疗合同的订立与生效以及医患双方的主要权利与义务,并对医疗合同的特点作了系统性地论述。     

Frequencies of morphological characteristics in two contemporary forensic collections: implications for identification

Positive identification relies on comparison of antemortem and postmortem data. Some identifications are based on morphological features such as fracture, pathological condition, and surgical hardware, despite little literature indicating the frequencies of such traits. This study examines whether such features are sufficiently rare as to be deemed individualizing. Data were collected on two modern North American skeletal collections (N=482 individuals). Presence/absence of features was scored by skeletal element and side. Results indicate that frequencies vary by geographic region (higher frequency of fractures and pathological conditions in New Mexico while individuals in Tennessee were more likely to have surgical interventions), many features such as fractures are remarkably common and that even suites of traits may not be individualizing. Caution is warranted when using written data rather than radiographic comparisons as the primary source of identification. The implications of these findings to missing person databases are also discussed.     

Privatization in Argentina: The implications for corruption

The article analyzes the privatization program carried out under the Carlos Menem administration in Argentina between 1989 and 1995. It shows how, on many occasions, the divestiture of government-owned assets was often carried out within a very weak legal framework which, in turn, opened windows of opportunities for corrupt behavior and collusive practices involving high ranking government officials and private corporations. Based on their findings, the authors stress the crucial role that transparency plays for effective results to take place after government selloffs. Indeed, the Argentine case shows that there is a strong correlation between the legal and regulatory problems that often arise in the aftermath of state divestitures and privatizations that have been carried out hastily and under a cloud of corruption allegations.     

Robots,standards and the law: Rivalries between private standards and public policymaking for robot governance

This article explains the complex intertwinement between public and private regulators in the case of robot technology. Public policymaking ensures broad multi-stakeholder protected scope, but its abstractness often fails in intelligibility and applicability. Private standards, on the contrary, are more concrete and applicable, but most of the times they are voluntary and reflect industry interests. The ‘better regulation’ approach of the EU may increase the use of evidence to inform policy and lawmaking, and the involvement of different stakeholders. Current hard-lawmaking instruments do not appear to take advantage of the knowledge produced by standard-based regulations, virtually wasting their potential benefits. This fact affects the legal certainty with regards to a fast-paced changing environment like robotics. In this paper, we investigate the challenges of overlapping public/private regulatory initiatives that govern robot technologies in general, and in the concrete of healthcare robot technologies. We wonder until what extent robotics should be governed only by standards. We also reflect on how public policymaking could increase their technical understanding of robot technology to devise an applicable and comprehensive framework for this technology. In this respect, we propose different ways to integrate the technical know-how into policymaking (e.g., collecting the data/knowledge generated from the impact assessments in shared data repositories, and using it for evidence-based policies) and to strengthen the legitimacy of standards.     

The relationship between injustice and crime: A general strain theory approach

Purpose

Connect General Strain Theory (GST) and the organizational justice literature by examining how different types and combinations of major forms of injustice (distributive, procedural, and interactional), and resultant anger, may increase the likelihood that individuals respond to strain with crime.

Method

Logit and OLS regressions are used to analyze survey data obtained from a vignette that was randomly assigned to a sample of undergraduates. The vignette presented a distributive injustice and manipulated the additional presence of procedural and interactional injustice. Respondents rated their likelihood of intending to engage in a violent act and a non-violent deviant act.

Results

As expected, multiple types of injustice foster the intention of responding to injustice with crime. In addition to a distributive injustice, the presence of procedural injustice predicts violence, while interactional injustice predicts excessive drinking. Moreover, anger mediates the injustice-crime relationship, although this effect is more substantial for the association between procedural injustice and violence.

Conclusions

The relationship between injustice and crime is complex. Different forms of injustice can affect the propensity for crime through anger. Further research is encouraged to identify the criminogenic potential of certain types of combinations of injustice on the experience of negative emotions and crime.