I got acquainted with the basics of research from my undergraduate studies at Olabisi Onabanjo University. Nonetheless, it was my LL.M research and the great supervision by Professor Dwijen Rangnekar (of blessed memory) at the University of Warwick in England that got me curious about banking crises and financial stability.
My curiosity was deepened by my professional engagements as a legal practitioner in one of Africa's best law firms. My involvement, through the professional engagement of the law firm of Olaniwun Ajayi LP in the Nigerian banking sector reforms which started in 201 and the aftermaths provided significant insights to the practical issues triggered by my LL.M research.
The fact that no bank has failed in Canada since the failure of Northland Bank and Canadian Commercial Bank in 1985 is testament to Canada’s financial stability. Although there is the view that financial stability in Canada has come at the expense of competition and market fragmentation considering that 90% of Canadian banking asset is held the five biggest banks.
The systemic importance of Canada's big banks, the need to appraise and improve the regulatory tools for these big banks birthed my current Ph.D research.
Research
My research achieves its objective by answering three unique but connected questions: (i) What is the legal scope and nature of regulatory powers in relation to the resolution of big banks in Canada? (ii) What are the considerations and legal limit to the exercise of these powers? And (iii) Bearing in mind the non-viability of Credit Suisse, what are the pitfalls of big bank resolution regime and how can Canadian regulators avoid them?