Financial regulation is supervision of financial institutions to certain rules and guidelines.
The aim is to keep the financial system honest and legal. Regulation may be done by either a government or non-government organization. Also, financial regulation has increased the variety of financial products available.
In the early modern period, the Dutch were the pioneers in financial regulation. The first recorded regulation was a ban on short selling done by the Dutch authorities in 1610.
The objectives of financial regulators are usually: