Bank Lobbying: Regulatory Capture and Beyond

This paper discusses whether and how bank lobbying can lead to regulatory capture and have real consequences through an overview of the motivations behind bank lobbying and of recent empirical evidence on the subject. Overall, the findings are consistent with regulatory capture, which lessens the support for tighter rules and enforcement. However, these findings should not be interpreted as a call for an outright ban of lobbying, but as to point in the direction for rethinking the framework governing interactions between regulators and banks.