Recalibration of bank criminal investigations andsupervisory oversight after the financial crisis: a comparison between the U.S.and the E.U.

After the financial crisis of 2006-2007, a lot has been said in the U.S. as well as in Europe, about the main reasons that led to one of the most tragic global economy depressions of the century. In the management of such a context, the efficiency of administrative bank oversight and banking criminal investigations gained a primary position, due to banks increasing role in all the financial markets worldwide. This Essay will analyze the U.S. system resulting from the Dodd-Frank Act, comparing it with the reforms in progress in the European Union, characterized by increasing supervisory powers of the European Central Bank. The Essay asserts that the effort taken so far in both countries are only partially able to satisfy the goals set, due to the permanence of some structural problems, such as the uncoordinated overlapping of multiple supervisory agencies and the dependency of the funding systems to the same subjects the agency has to control. The analysis will apply a comparative approach, taking into account the U.S. and the E.U. main features concerning criminal investigations and supervisory oversight on financial institutions, as well as the minimum standards recommended at international level.