Financial Supervision Unification and Financial Intelligence Units: A Trade Off?

In this paper we present a review of recent trends in the architectures of financial supervision, focused on the authorities design, using a sample of 68 countries. The comparative analysis confirmed the impression that an increase in the degree of concentration of powers was evident in the developed countries, particularly in the European Union. Furthermore, we discuss the results of an empirical analysis, looking for common determinants in the decision each country takes to maintain or reform its supervisory architecture. We highlight that on average the level of financial supervision consolidation seems to negatively depend on an institutional factor (represented by the central bank involvement in supervision), while the choice of policymakers to increase the unification of supervision seems to be facilitated by relative small financial markets as well as by an institutional environment characterized by good governance.