This book examines the major themes associated with financial regulation as well as the range of policy design innovations and scholarly perspectives that have influenced it. It considers the ramifications of the 2008 financial crisis for financial regulation and fundamental questions as to the role of the state in the financial system. The book is organized into six parts. Part I looks at the relationship between the financial system and regulation, focusing on themes such as the evolution of theory and method in law and finance and the relationship between economic development, financial systems, and law. Part II analyses the organization of financial regulation from institutional and system-based perspectives, with particular emphasis on the European Union and the United States. Part III describes how financial regulation seeks to achieve particular outcomes using a number of particular regulatory and supervisory strategies as well as market-based institutions and mechanisms. Parts IV to VI deal with the three major recurring objectives of financial regulation over the past three or four decades and which remain widely used as the primary organizational tools of financial regulation scholarship and policy: financial stability; market efficiency, integrity, and transparency; and consumer protection.