FINANCIAL SECTOR REGULATION IN KENYA
The rationale for regulation
Financial systems are prone to periods of instability. In recent years, a number of financial crises around the world (South-east Asia, Latin America and Russia, Global financial crisis) have brought about a large number of bank
failures. Some argue that this suggests a case for more effective regulation and supervision. Others attribute many of these crises to the failure of regulation.
Advocates of the so-called ‘free banking’ argue that the financial sector would work better without regulation, supervision and central banking. In the absence of government regulation, they argue, banks would have greater
incentives to prevent failures.
However, the financial services industry is a politically sensitive one and largely relies on public confidence. Because of the nature of their activities (illiquid assets and short term liabilities), banks are more prone to troubles
than other firms. Further, because of the interconnectedness of banks, the failure of one institution can immediately affect others. This is known as bank contagion and may lead to bank runs. Banking systems are vulnerable to
systemic risk, which is the risk that problems in one bank will spread through the whole sector. Bank runs occur when a large number of depositors, fearing that their bank is unsound and about to fail, try to
withdraw their savings within a short period of time. A bank run starts when the public begins to suspect that a bank may become insolvent. This creates a problem because banks want to keep only a small fraction of deposits in cash;
they lend out the majority of deposits to borrowers or use the funds to purchase other interest-bearing assets. When a bank is faced with a sudden increase in withdrawals, it needs to increase its liquidity to meet depositors’
demands. Bank reserves may not be sufficient to cover the withdrawals and banks may be forced to sell their assets. Banks assets (loans) are highly illiquid in the absence of a secondary market and if banks have financial difficulties
they may be forced to sell loans at a loss (known as ‘fire-sale’ prices in the United States) in order to obtain liquidity. However, excessive losses made on such loan sales can make the bank insolvent and bring about bank failure.
Bank loans are highly illiquid because of information asymmetries: it is very difficult for a potential buyer to evaluate customer-specific information on the basis of which the loan was agreed. The very nature of banks’ contracts can
turn an illiquidity problem (lack of short-term cash) into insolvency (where a bank is unable to meet its obligations or to put this differently when the value of its assets is less than its liabilities).
Regulation is needed to ensure consumers’ confidence in the financial sector. According to Llewellyn (1999) the main reasons for financial sector regulation are:
1. To ensure systemic stability;
2. To provide smaller, retail clients with protection; and
3. To protect consumers against monopolistic exploitation. Systemic stability is one of the main reasons for regulation, as the social costs of bank failure are greater than the private costs. The second concern is
with consumer protection. In financial markets ‘caveat emptor’ (‘Let the buyer beware’) is not considered adequate, as financial contracts are often complex and opaque. The costs of acquiring information are high, particularly
for small, retail customers. Consumer protection is a particularly sensitive issue if customers face the loss of their lifetime savings. Finally, regulation serves the purpose of protecting consumers against the abuse of monopoly
power in product pricing. The most common objectives of financial sector regulation are:
1. Prudential: To reduce the level of risk bank creditors are exposed to (i.e. to
protect depositors)
2. Systemic risk reduction: to reduce the risk of disruption resulting from adverse trading conditions for banks causing multiple or major bank failures
3. Avoid misuse of banks: to reduce the risk of banks being used for criminal purposes, e.g. laundering the proceeds of crime
4. To protect banking confidentiality
5. Credit allocation: to direct credit to favored sectors
