Shadow banking - a system of credit creation outside traditional banks - lies at the very heart of the global economy. It accounts for over half of global banking assets, and represents a third of the global financial system. Although the term 'shadow banking' only entered public discourse in 2007, the importance and scope of this system is now widely recognised by the international policy-makers. There is however, much less consensus on the origins of the shadow banking system, what role it plays in global political economy and the optimal approach to regulating this complex segment of...