A financial regulatory authority or financial supervisory authority is a public authority whose role is to ensure the proper implementation of

financial regulation Financial regulation is a broad set of policies that apply to the financial sector in most jurisdictions, justified by two main features of finance: systemic risk, which implies that the failure of financial firms involves public interest consi ...

within its scope of responsibility. Financial regulatory authorities include those in charge of bank supervision; of securities regulation, often referred to as

securities commission A securities commission, securities regulator or capital market authority is a government department or agency responsible for financial regulation of securities products within a particular country. Its powers and responsibilities vary greatly ...

s; of anti-money laundering supervision of financial firms; and of

consumer protection Consumer protection is the practice of safeguarding buyers of goods and services, and the public, against unfair practices in the marketplace. Consumer protection measures are often established by law. Such laws are intended to prevent business ...

in financial services, and more generally of enforcing "conduct-of-business" requirements, not to mention macroprudential regulation.

Scope of authority

Functional scope

Some or all of these distinct mandates are often brought together in a single authority. Different jurisdictions have addressed the challenge of organizing financial regulation in multiple ways that have often evolved over time and display significant path dependence. In general, three types of financial supervisory architecture have been identified by scholars: * a "sectoral" supervisory architecture (sometimes referred to as "institutional" or "functional"), in which different authorities are in charge of different sub-sectors of the financial system such as banking, insurance, and securities markets; * an "integrated" architecture in which a single authority is in charge of all segments of the financial system under all applicable policy frameworks; * a "twin peaks" architecture in which separate authorities are in charge, respectively, of prudential supervision and of conduct-of-business oversight. As of 2023, examples of sectoral architecture include

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

Hong Kong Hong Kong)., Legally Hong Kong, China in international treaties and organizations. is a special administrative region of China. With 7.5 million residents in a territory, Hong Kong is the fourth most densely populated region in the wor ...

, and

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

; examples of integrated architecture include

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

Singapore Singapore, officially the Republic of Singapore, is an island country and city-state in Southeast Asia. The country's territory comprises one main island, 63 satellite islands and islets, and one outlying islet. It is about one degree ...

Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...

, and

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the southern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and borders North Korea along the Korean Demilitarized Zone, with the Yellow Sea to the west and t ...

; and examples of twin-peaks architecture include

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

, and the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

, the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are Geography of the European Union, located primarily in Europe. The u ...

, and the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

have more complex supervisory systems that defy simple classification.

Geographical scope

Whereas most financial regulatory authorities have a national mandate, there are instances of both subnational and supranational authorities: * Subnational authorities are extant most prominently in

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

and the

, at the level of individual

provinces A province is an administrative division within a country or state. The term derives from the ancient Roman , which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire's territorial possessions outside Italy. The term ''provi ...

and states respectively, and in autonomous territories such as

British Overseas Territories The British Overseas Territories (BOTs) or alternatively referred to as the United Kingdom Overseas Territories (UKOTs) are the fourteen dependent territory, territories with a constitutional and historical link with the United Kingdom that, ...

and

Crown Dependencies The Crown Dependencies are three dependent territory, offshore island territories in the British Islands that are self-governing possessions of the The Crown, British Crown: the Bailiwick of Guernsey and the Jersey, Bailiwick of Jersey, both lo ...

, Constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Netherlands,

and

Macau Macau or Macao is a special administrative regions of China, special administrative region of the People's Republic of China (PRC). With a population of about people and a land area of , it is the most List of countries and dependencies by p ...

, or the

Republika Srpska Republika Srpska ( sr-Cyrl, Република Српска, ; also referred to as the Republic of Srpska or Serb Republic) is one of the two Political divisions of Bosnia and Herzegovina, entities within Bosnia and Herzegovina, the other bein ...

(but not, for example, in individual

countries of the United Kingdom Since 1922, the United Kingdom has been made up of four countries: England, Scotland, Wales (which collectively make up Great Britain) and Northern Ireland (#Terminology, variously described as a country, province, jurisdiction or region). The ...

Overseas France Overseas France (, also ) consists of 13 France, French territories outside Europe, mostly the remnants of the French colonial empire that remained a part of the French state under various statuses after decolonisation. Most are part of the E ...

) ** Dedicated authorities have also been established for financial enclaves under a special regulatory regime, including the Abu Dhabi Global Market, the Dubai International Financial Centre, the GIFT International Financial Services Centre in

, the Astana International Financial Centre in

Kazakhstan Kazakhstan, officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a landlocked country primarily in Central Asia, with a European Kazakhstan, small portion in Eastern Europe. It borders Russia to the Kazakhstan–Russia border, north and west, China to th ...

, the Labuan International Business and Financial Centre in

Malaysia Malaysia is a country in Southeast Asia. Featuring the Tanjung Piai, southernmost point of continental Eurasia, it is a federation, federal constitutional monarchy consisting of States and federal territories of Malaysia, 13 states and thre ...

, and the Qatar Financial Centre * Supranational financial authorities exist in

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent after Asia. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 20% of Earth's land area and 6% of its total surfac ...

, the Eastern Caribbean, and the

. The main such authorities are: ** the Eastern Caribbean Central Bank as banking supervisor in the Eastern Caribbean Currency Union (since 1983) ** the Banking Commission of the West African Monetary Union as banking supervisor in the West African Monetary Union (since 1990) ** the Central African Banking Commission as banking supervisor in the Economic and Monetary Community of Central Africa (since 1993) ** the Regional Insurance Control Commission as insurance supervisor in the two African monetary unions and the

Comoros The Comoros, officially the Union of the Comoros, is an archipelagic country made up of three islands in Southeastern Africa, located at the northern end of the Mozambique Channel in the Indian Ocean. Its capital and largest city is Moroni, ...

(since 1995) ** the Financial Markets Authority of the West African Monetary Union as securities commission in the WAMU (since 1996) ** the

European Central Bank The European Central Bank (ECB) is the central component of the Eurosystem and the European System of Central Banks (ESCB) as well as one of seven institutions of the European Union. It is one of the world's Big Four (banking)#International ...

within European Banking Supervision as supervisor of most of the euro area banking sector (since 2014) ** the Central African Financial Market Supervisory Commission as securities commission in the EMCCA (since 2019) In addition, both the

European Securities and Markets Authority The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) is an agency of the European Union located in Paris. ESMA replaced the Committee of European Securities Regulators (CESR) on 1 January 2011. It is one of three European Supervisory Authori ...

(since 2011) and the European Banking Authority (since 2023) have been granted direct supervisory mandates over limited market segments within the

European Economic Area The European Economic Area (EEA) was established via the ''Agreement on the European Economic Area'', an international agreement which enables the extension of the European Union's single market to member states of the European Free Trade Asso ...

International organizations

Several international or global bodies have financial regulatory authorities as their main membership. Given the variety of supervisory mandates and choices of supervisory architecture, the lists of members of these bodies occasionally overlap. These bodies include: * Basel Committee on Banking Supervision (BCBS, est. 1974) * International Organization of Securities Commissions (IOSCO, est. 1983) * International Association of Insurance Supervisors (IAIS, est. 1994) * International Association of Deposit Insurers (IADI, est. 2002) * International Forum of Independent Audit Regulators (IFIAR, est. 2006) Financial regulatory authorities from several jurisdictions are also represented in the

Financial Stability Board The Financial Stability Board (FSB) is an international body that monitors and makes recommendations about the global financial system. It was established in the 2009 G20 Pittsburgh Summit as a successor to the Financial Stability Forum (FSF) ...

, alongside finance ministries and

central bank A central bank, reserve bank, national bank, or monetary authority is an institution that manages the monetary policy of a country or monetary union. In contrast to a commercial bank, a central bank possesses a monopoly on increasing the mo ...

National authorities

Notes