Professor Kern Alexander

About

Professor Kern Alexander, PhD/MPhil University of Cambridge, AB (Honours) Cornell University and Director of Studies for the MBA/EMBA and MFIN students.

He was the Specialist Adviser to British Parliament’s Joint Select Committee on the Financial Services Act 2012 and was a Member of the European Parliament’s Expert Panel on Financial Services (2009-2014). He advised the Serious Fraud Office in its investigations and prosecutions of the rigging of the London Inter-Bank Offered Rate (Libor)(2013-2019). He has authored commissioned reports for the United Nations and the G20 on international banking regulation and environmental sustainability. He has given oral and written evidence on many occasions to the House of Commons Treasury Committee and to the House of Lords Committee on Economic Affairs on UK and EU banking regulation and economic sanctions. He gave oral and written evidence on the European Banking Union to the House of Lords Europe Committee and on the review of the European Supervisory Authorities. His evidence is cited extensively in these Parliamentary reports. He comments for the BBC and Bloomberg on UK, European Union, and Swiss banking regulation and financial sanctions. http://www.bbc.com/news/av/business-18873184/a-quick-guide-to-new-bank-regulation. He is a Member of the Bar.

Professor Alexander was invited to give oral evidence to the House of Lords Committee on Financial Services Regulation on 9 October 2024. In his testimony he discussed the difference between primary and secondary objectives in financial regulation and how to manage secondary objectives while achieving primary objectives.

On 11 February 2026, Professor Alexander was invited to provide oral evidence to the House of Lords Committee on Financial Services Regulation on the ‘The Growth of Stablecoins and the proposed UK regulatory framework governing their use”.  His comments are based on his report for the House of Lords that examines the extent to which stablecoins may disrupt traditional models of financial service provision, including banking and payment services, and whether the regulatory frameworks proposed by the Bank of England and the Financial Conduct Authority are measured and proportionate responses to these risks. (UK Parliament)

https://committees.parliament.uk/event/26463/formal-meeting-oral-evidence-session/

Watch it at 11:00 GMT / 12:00 CET

Some recent publications:

https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/principles-of-banking-regulation/8455CF78618A69FD75E5F2037B1091A1

College

As a Director of Studies, I am responsible for advising the MBA/EMBA and Master of Finance students in their academic activities and providing tutorial support.

Research

My research focuses on the governance of financial institutions and the regulation of systemic risk and related issues of environmental sustainability, financial inclusion, market integrity and contract law. I am the author of many research articles and several books, including Central Banking and Sustainability (Cambridge University Press, 2026), Principles of Banking Regulation (Cambridge University Press, 2019), Brexit and Financial Services (with Moloney et al, Hart, 2018) Global Governance of Financial Systems (with Dhumale/Eatwell, Oxford Univ Press 2006), and Economic Sanctions: Law and Public Policy (Macmillan 2009). My recent articles have been published in the European Business Organisation Review, European Law Review and Journal of International Economic Law and Law and Contemporary Legal Problems (Duke University Law School, 2020).

Department

I teach the Principles of Financial Regulation module on the University of Cambridge Masters of Finance programme. I also teach the module ‘Understanding the Regulatory Environment’ at the Barclays Compliance Academy at the Cambridge Judge Business School and have lectured on bank board duties and ethics for over twenty years on Cambridge executive education programmes. I also hold the Professorial Chair in Law and Finance at the University of Zurich Faculty of Law where I teach International Financial Law, Corporate Law and Principles of Common Law.