right now with a combination self-regulation and statutory regulation. There will perhaps be change in the US over the next few years with the advent of a new president who will appoint a new chairman of the SEC in the near future when Arthur Levitt steps down. ‘In addition, as many as three of the five top-level commissioner positions at the SEC are either vacant or will be vacant in the coming year, positions that to a great extent shape SEC policymaking with the chairman’ (Financial Times, 2000). Change may also come from Phil Gramm the US senator and head of the Senate banking committee, who has ordered a review of US securities law. Mr. Gramm is a well-known regulation opponent in the US. Change is without a doubt imminent. The most important concern is to keep markets orderly and transparent. For some countries it has come in the form of strict regulation, for others in relatively flexible regulation. The challenges now come from the increasing need for harmonisation of regulations in the EU and also the need to react to the effect that technology can have on financial markets, something that many current financial regulatory systems have yet to tackle....
