The global financial crisis that began in the summer of 2007 has brought the financial industry to centre stage. While most current analysis focuses on the way finance can be regulated in the topical context of the economic crisis, this book aims to show how financial activities actually shape and transform the world. Highlighting that the true regulators of the economy are not only regulatory state authorities, the book demonstrates that the financial sphere really does contribute to rule-setting. It argues that actors that seem to be the objects of regulation or intervene only at its fringe are in fact 'discreet regulators' which provide the institutional framework that fosters the creation and globalization of markets. Building on a series of case studies, Finance: The Discreet Regulator highlights how public authorities and private actors jointly regulate the real world, with joint regulation being dominated by a multiplicity of financial actors, and looks at a variety of key players, who take part in the very heart of the regulatory process.