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The language of rules: textual complexity in banking reforms

Author

Listed:
  • Amadxarif, Zahid

    (Bank of England)

  • Brookes, James

    (Bank of England)

  • Garbarino, Nicola

    (Bank of England)

  • Patel, Rajan

    (Bank of England)

  • Walczak, Eryk

    (Bank of England and University College London)

Abstract

The banking reforms that followed the financial crisis of 2007–08 led to an increase in UK banking regulation from almost 400,000 to over 720,000 words, and to concerns about their complexity. We define complexity in terms of the difficulty of processing linguistic units, both in isolation and within a broader context, and use natural language processing and network analysis to calculate complexity measures on a novel dataset that covers the near universe of prudential regulation for banks in the United Kingdom before (2007) and after (2017) the reforms. Linguistic, ie textual and network, complexity in banking regulation is concentrated in a relatively small number of provisions, and the post-crisis reforms have accentuated this feature. In particular, the comprehension of provisions within a tightly connected ‘core’ requires following long chains of cross-references.

Suggested Citation

  • Amadxarif, Zahid & Brookes, James & Garbarino, Nicola & Patel, Rajan & Walczak, Eryk, 2019. "The language of rules: textual complexity in banking reforms," Bank of England working papers 834, Bank of England.
    • Handle: RePEc:boe:boeewp:0834
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    2. Munday, Tim & Brookes, James, 2021. "Mark my words: the transmission of central bank communication to the general public via the print media," Bank of England working papers 944, Bank of England.
    3. Omotosho, Babatunde S., 2020. "Central Bank Communication during Economic Recessions: Evidence from Nigeria," MPRA Paper 99655, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    4. Singla, Shikhar, 2023. "Regulatory costs and market power," LawFin Working Paper Series 47, Goethe University, Center for Advanced Studies on the Foundations of Law and Finance (LawFin).
    5. Buckmann, Marcus & Haldane, Andy & Hüser, Anne-Caroline, 2021. "Comparing minds and machines: implications for financial stability," Bank of England working papers 937, Bank of England.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Complexity; CRR; natural language processing; networks; regulation; supervision;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D85 - Microeconomics - - Information, Knowledge, and Uncertainty - - - Network Formation
    • E58 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Monetary Policy, Central Banking, and the Supply of Money and Credit - - - Central Banks and Their Policies
    • G18 - Financial Economics - - General Financial Markets - - - Government Policy and Regulation
    • G28 - Financial Economics - - Financial Institutions and Services - - - Government Policy and Regulation
    • K23 - Law and Economics - - Regulation and Business Law - - - Regulated Industries and Administrative Law

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