| Banking is a nationally regulated activity that, because of its important economic role in a country, has had a domestic focus. In light of the trend to a gobally integrated economy, and the internationalization of banking, interrelationships between banks in different countries are growing. In these circumstances, banking failures not only impact the banking system and the economy in the country where it is regulated, but as well, through contagion, impacts other international banks and the economies of the countries they serve. The Thesis is that, notwithstanding the traditional domestic focus of banking regulation throughout the world, the international regulatory standards of the Bank Core Principles for Effective Banking Supervision issued by the Bank for International Settlements in September 1997, emphasizing banking safety and soundness in order to minimize banking failures, can be a common international standard of banking supervision with application for each country. The Core Principles deal thoroughly with causes of failure including macroeconomic instability, inefficient market discipline, supervisory forbearance, movement penetration of the banking system, poor management and excessive risk taking by owners. As well, they are compatible with different banking systems adopted in each country. |