Bringing together leading figures in the field of financial regulation, this collection of essays explores the related concepts of systemic risk and institutional design of financial markets, responding to a number of questions: In terms of systemic risk, what precisely is the problem and what can be done about it? How should systemic risk be regulated? What should be the role of the central bank, banking authorities, and securities regulators? Should countries implement a macroprudential regulator? If not, how is macroprudential regulation to be addressed within their respective legislative schemes? What policy mechanisms can be employed when developing regulation relating to financial markets? A significant and timely examination of one of the most intractable challenges posed to financial regulation.