Papers by Ross Buckley
Under the traditional paradigm, the shareholder was the one in whose name company shares were reg... more Under the traditional paradigm, the shareholder was the one in whose name company shares were registered. However, for public companies in the US, this system became highly inefficient by the 1960s due to high numbers of transactions. As a result, shares began to be “immobilized” at central securities depositories (“CSD”s) and held through the Indirect Holding System (“IHS”), with share transactions settled through “book entries,” first in the US and then in other major markets. Although market liquidity benefited, the system broke the direct relationship between companies and shareholders, introducing also a discrepancy between “recorded shareholders” and “beneficial shareholders.” Communication solutions were developed to bridge this discrepancy and allow “beneficial shareholders” to cast their votes through proxies. However, they currently rely on highly intermediated “pass-it-along” architectures, which cause several inefficiencies, the costs of which are borne by the shareholde...
Capital controls—measures taken to regulate the outflow or inflow of capital—are employed by gove... more Capital controls—measures taken to regulate the outflow or inflow of capital—are employed by governments to maintain financial stability and prevent or mitigate the effects of economic crises. For many decades capital controls were out of favour among economists and policymakers. Of late, however, they have become acceptable, if somewhat controversial, tools of financial policy, with the International Monetary Fund stating that ‘in certain circumstances, [capital controls] can be useful to support macroeconomic adjustment and safeguard financial stability’. Yet, little is known about the legality of capital controls under the various international treaties and rules of international organisations. This article introduces capital controls, traces their evolution over time, considers the success of short-term and long-term controls implemented in Chile, Malaysia, Iceland and China, and examines the consistency of selected controls with international rules and obligations. We suggest t...
SSRN Electronic Journal
If well-designed and implemented, central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) likely offer the best s... more If well-designed and implemented, central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) likely offer the best solution to the financial inclusion and remittance problems that bedevil the Pacific region. However, the CBDC is a complex piece of software and a complex digital framework capable of generating economywide benefits and shocks. The development of a safe, efficient, and accessible CBDC by any Pacific country will require considerable expertise and a deep understanding of the design issues this fundamentally new form of currency gives rise to in this context. It will require Pacific island finance sector regulators to redirect scarce resources away from currently pressing challenges to undertake years of preparatory research and then pilot programs. For this reason, this brief concludes that now is not the time for countries in the region to issue a CBDC, but now is the time to begin laying the groundwork for this potentially game-changing innovation by building specific knowledge and expertise within the region's central banks.
University of New South Wales Faculty of Law …, 2010
... community office. 41 In 2007 and 2008, seven water projects, seven education projects and thr... more ... community office. 41 In 2007 and 2008, seven water projects, seven education projects and three health care projects were implemented. One year into the programme, JosephKinyua, Permanent Secretary of Treasury, said: I wish ...
Finance is important for development. However, the Asian financial crisis of 1997-1998 and the gl... more Finance is important for development. However, the Asian financial crisis of 1997-1998 and the global financial crisis of 2008 highlighted the serious risks associated with financial liberalization and excessive innovation. East Asia's strong focus on economic growth has necessitated a careful balancing of the benefits of financial liberalization and innovation against the very real risks inherent in financial sector development. This Article examines the role of regulatory, legal, and institutional infrastructure in supporting both financial development and limiting the risk of financial crises. The Article then addresses a series of issues with particular developmental significance in the region: trade finance, mortgage markets, SME finance, non-bank finance, and mobile financial services.
Capital Markets Law Journal, 2014
• The global financial crisis of 2008-9 placed the 'too-big-to-fail' issue at the forefront of pu... more • The global financial crisis of 2008-9 placed the 'too-big-to-fail' issue at the forefront of public and regulatory debate; • This paper presents a comparative study of regulatory measures taken to address this issue in Switzerland and Australia; • Australia's banking system was distinguished from its peers in advanced economies during the crisis as it did not require substantial injections of public money. Although no Australian banks are global systemically important financial institutions, it does have a sizeable too-bigto-fail problem in the domestic financial system that requires a targeted regulatory response; • Switzerland offers an interesting comparative study for Australia because Switzerland has responded to its too-big-to-fail problem with a market leading package of measures that go far beyond that required by Basel III, in response to the problems of UBS during the crisis. • Despite differences in the two countries' financial systems, this article seeks to identify the lessons that can be drawn for Australia from Switzerland. I.
Journal of Financial Regulation, 2015
The funds, entities, and regulators involved in the Australian superannuation industry together c... more The funds, entities, and regulators involved in the Australian superannuation industry together comprise a system that is complex and dynamic. The differentiation between roles and the distribution of responsibility amongst entities provides the system with a measure of resilience against the local failure of any one of the entities. However, the interconnections that bind and constitute the system also have the potential to transmit risks within the system, creating the potential for the impact of local failures to amplify through propagation, or in other ways to pose risks to the system as a whole. This article uses a new data set on 200 of Australia's largest superannuation funds to map and assess those links and to identify the challenges those links pose to the scheme of prudential regulation applied to the superannuation system in Australia. It finds that the function of the entity and the legal form of the linkages, both of which are more variegated than typically occurs in banking sector transactions, crucially influences whether, and to what extent, various types of failures might be transmitted across the system. It also finds that we may be materially underestimating the possibility that local failures in the superannuation system, which are a near certainty given the current regulatory risk appetite, will have a systemic impact. The findings have broad application across pension and institutional investment markets worldwide.
The provision of financial services through mobile phones is a powerful tool to foster financial ... more The provision of financial services through mobile phones is a powerful tool to foster financial inclusion, and thus economic growth, in developing countries. However, it raises important regulatory issues. Given the vulnerability of most potential customers of these services, the protection of customer funds is important. In common law countries, trust accounts are an effective response to these concerns. In civil law jurisdictions however, in the absence of trusts, protection of customer funds is more difficult. This paper identifies the theoretical and practical problems that regulators in civil law jurisdictions might face when trying to protect customer funds and explores how fiduciary contracts, mandate contracts and direct regulation might be used to achieve this goal. It offers a series of practical recommendations for policymakers in developing countries that provide a range of regulatory options that combine private law and regulation.
Policy Submissions by Ross Buckley
University of New South Wales Faculty of Law Legal Studies Research Paper Series, 2019
Co-authored submission from the Allens Hub for Technology, Law, and Innovation, UNSW in response ... more Co-authored submission from the Allens Hub for Technology, Law, and Innovation, UNSW in response to the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet’s New Australian Government Data Sharing and Release Legislation Issues Paper for Consultation.
This document summarises the views presented at a consultation on 30 July 2018 in writing, taking account of the subsequent discussion at that event and conferral with colleagues after the event.
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Papers by Ross Buckley
Policy Submissions by Ross Buckley
This document summarises the views presented at a consultation on 30 July 2018 in writing, taking account of the subsequent discussion at that event and conferral with colleagues after the event.
This document summarises the views presented at a consultation on 30 July 2018 in writing, taking account of the subsequent discussion at that event and conferral with colleagues after the event.