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10 Cato J. 329 (1990-1991)
International Trends in the Combination of Banking, Securities, and Commerce

handle is hein.journals/catoj10 and id is 335 raw text is: INTERNATIONAL TRENDS IN THE COMBINATION OF BANKING, SECURITIES, AND COMMERCE Peter J. Ferrara The rapid pace of change in financial markets over the past two decades or so is often referred to as a financial market revolution. One of the major elements of this revolutionary change has been the blurring or outright elimination of the traditional and regulatory distinctions between banking and other financial or even nonfinan- cial businesses. This paper will examine current international trends in the combination of commercial banking with securities activities, investment banking, other financial activities such as insurance, and general commercial enterprises. The final section will discuss the reasons for these developments and whether the change is desirable. Western Europe The combination of banking with other businesses has gained the most momentum in Western Europe. In West Germany, Switzerland, Great Britain, France, Luxembourg, and the Netherlands, commer- cial banks can engage in securities underwriting and any investment banking activity, securities brokerage, insurance underwriting and brokerage, investment advice, currency trading, futures and options trading, and (except in Switzerland) any real estate development or sales activity.' According to the Institute of International Bankers (1988), banks in these countries can also own or be owned by com- mercial enterprises. Cato journal, Vol. 10, No. 2 (Fall 1990). Copyright @ Cato Institute. All rights reserved. The author is Associate Professor of Law at George Mason University School of Law and a Senior Fellow at the Cato Institute. 'See, for example, Institute of International Bankers (1988); Levich (1985, pp. 280-82); Classman (1988, pp. 15, 19-20); Cooper and Fraser (1984, pp. 76-83); Hamilton (1986, 130-54). 329

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