In response to the plunge in oil prices, investment in drilling and mining structures fell 50 percent last year, and continued reductions in the number of drilling rigs this year suggest that further declines are likely. 1 At the same time, firms and workers in the energy sector have experienced extreme financial difficulties and severe job losses.
Although banking regulation has long included an important international dimension, the recent financial crisis has brought renewed attention, both in the United States and abroad, to the interconnectedness among national financial markets and, consequently, the importance of international cooperation in safeguarding those markets.