The 'shadow banking system' refers to a system of credit-provision occurring outside of the official regulatory perimeter of commercial banks. Facilitated by securitization vehicles, mutual funds, hedge funds, investment banks and mortgage companies, the function and regulation of these shadow banking institutions has come under increasing scrutiny after the subprime crisis of 2007–8. Matthias Thiemann examines how regulators came to tolerate the emergence of links between the banking and shadow banking systems. Through a comparative analysis of the US, France, the Netherlands and Germany, he argues that fractured domestic and global governance systems determining the regulatory approach to these links ultimately aggravated the recent financial crisis. Since 2008, shadow banking has even expanded and the incentives for banks to bend the rules have only increased with increasing regulation. Thiemann's empirical work suggests how state-finance relations could be restructured to keep the banking system under state control and avoid future financial collapses.

'Ten years after the Great Financial Crisis, with regulations remaining mostly unchanged, this book offers a new paradigm for designing financial regulation. Thiemann situates the rise of shadow banking in ill-designed and often highly fragmented regulatory structures - an ideal breeding ground for regulatory arbitrage. Based on a careful comparative analysis of accounting governance in several countries, he argues for greater proximity of regulators to the regulated and a diversity of perspectives to avoid cognitive capture. Even more daring, Thiemann argues that regulators should not fall for the demand by the industry for certainty but instead should force regulatory uncertainty on the financial engineers to keep them on course. When the old regulatory structure inevitably fails us again, we will be better prepared to put a new regime in place and this book offers a new, empirically grounded, strategy.'

Katharina Pistor - Edwin B. Parker Professor of Comparative Law, Columbia Law School

'Matthias Thiemann’s The Growth of Shadow Banking is a highly insightful contribution that provides a fresh perspective on what led to the spread of shadow banking.'

Dylan Cassar Source: Economic Sociology

‘The book is important for anyone who wants to work in or research financial regulation. It provides a conceptual way of thinking about regulation. It also gives unique insights into the behind-the-scenes of regulatory sausage making.’

Pēteris Kloks Source: Financial Markets and Portfolio Management