Evolution and Impact of Securities Regulation With Particular Emphasis on Securities Regulations Prevailing in the State of Kuwait

Jasmin Kohina, General Counsel, NBK Capital

Regulations have existed in one form or another ever since the evolution of securities and financial instruments. In the UK, licensing of brokers is considered by some to go all the way back to the 13th Century when King Edward I of England was forced to deal with local money brokers rather than his usual Italian bankers at much less favorable terms to fund wars. In Europe, the Dutch have been the pioneers in financial regulation, having recorded the first ban on short selling in 1610. In the United States, one finds traces of early regulation in 1852 with respect to registration of railroad securities. However, the actual need for securities regulation was evident soon after the stock market crash of 1929 followed by the Great Depression in the 1930s which that led to the United States government enacting legislation to strengthen securities law and for the first time establish a separate agency to enforce them, the Securities and Exchange Commission.