Public law and private regulators in the global legal space

In domestic legal systems, public authorities have incorporated rules already long established by private bodies. In the global arena, public regulatory regimes increasingly connect with private ones. Examples include the Financial Stability Board's incorporation of international auditing standards, the Basel Committee's reference to credit-rating agencies, the World Trade Organization agreements' connection with international standards established by private bodies, and the EU endorsement of international accounting standards. Notwithstanding the different contexts, traditional techniques, such as incorporation and reference, are surprisingly resilient. Yet, tools originating in the transplantation of instruments well-known within national legal orders end up used for new purposes. Moreover, in some cases systems drawing on old tools enact new and more complex models. Lastly, the paper shows that, in some cases, procedural tools addressing legitimacy concerns seem to be more developed in the global context than in national ones-even though their efficacy is sometimes uncertain.