Financial system diversity may reflect diversity in markets (e.g. equity, bond, derivatives, money markets and others), or institutions (e.g. banks, insurance companies, non-bank financial institutions), or institutional forms (e.g. shareholders versus stakeholders value institutions). Such diversity may imply diversity in business models, different incentives, or different stages of development and the emergence of new forms of finance. Diversity can enhance the resilience of financial systems during shocks and periods of high uncertainty. However, diversity can also potentially lead to systemic instability. Diversity certainly leads to regulatory challenges and potential regulatory arbitrage. Further, the increasing interconnectedness within modern financial systems could result in the failure of one small part of a diverse financial system to disrupt the functioning of other more important parts of the system. There is no clear-cut evidence about the merits and risks of fostering diversity in financial systems. The topic of diversity seems also missing in the current debate on financial reforms to improve financial sector performance and resilience to possible shocks at the national, regional and global levels.
IWFSAS 2017 aims at providing an opportunity for established and emerging researchers and policy makers to discuss the merits and risks of diversity in the financial system architecture, particularly in terms of the links between diversity and systemic risk, impact on financial stability and un-stability, the role of diversity in financing the economy and stimulating growth, and the inter-linkages with monetary policy, financial regulation and supervision.