Civil society and horizontal subsidiarity in financial market regulation: some reflections on Roger McCormick's proposals

This article comments on Roger McCormick's essay “Towards a More Sustainable Financial System: The Regulators, the Banks and Civil Society“ ((2011) 5 Law and Financial Markets Review 129). Professor McCormick argues that the problems resulting from the 2007-09 global financial crisis cannot be resolved through legislation and regulation alone, but instead necessitate the greater engagement of civil society in internal banking affairs. This article argues that civil society can play a role in financial market regulation through the law when it includes the self-regulation of various professional market operators, putting into practice the principle of horizontal subsidiarity and thereby obtaining a higher level of regulatory compliance.