The four articles in this special issue of the Journal of Financial Economic Policy were presented at the tenth biannual joint session of the six worldwide Shadow Financial Regulatory Committees (Asian, Australia-New Zealand, European, Japanese, Latin American, and the United States) in Tokyo on October 26-28, 2013 and again at the annual meeting of the Western Economic Association in Denver, Colorado on June 28, 2014. The papers focus on how public policy in the regions represented by each of the committees responded to the 2007-2010 financial crisis. Because the crisis affected regions differently, the responses may be expected to differ. These four papers offer important and insightful information into the actions taken by various governmental and regulatory authorities in different regions of the world.

The U.S. Shadow Committee is the oldest of the six Shadow Committees. It was organized in 1986. It meets quarterly in Washington D.C. to analyze important current market and regulatory forces impacting the financial system and to make recommendations on resolving the issues from a public interest objective to enhance safety and efficiency. The members are recognized economists, lawyers, and former policy-makers and regulators, who have a preference for market solutions where possible. The Committee's analyses and recommendations are summarized in policy statements adopted at the end of each quarterly meeting and released publicly after the meeting.

The six committees attempt to meet biannually to exchange views and develop a better understanding of the issues confronting the different geographic regions and the public policy responses in each. They also discuss one important current issue affecting all of them and develop a policy statement.