The intersection of transnational activism, power and soft law : how transnational advocacy networks may influence investor protection within the European Union

The international system is no longer just determined by states, but is also influenced by
Transnational Advocacy Networks, TANs, which may include inter-governmental
organisations, professional associations, and consumer groups. The scholarly community
has also begun paying more attention to the actual significance of private authority in
global governance and of soft law produced by international agreements.
Within the European Union (EU), private authority and soft law has a special importance,
whereby the Union encourages representatives of consumers, businesses, professional
groups and national authorities to participate in the process of co-ordination and coregulation.
At present investor protection is central to the EU's approach to financial
services. The importance of the development of effective soft law standards and best
practices in order to further the state of investor protection has become even more
pronounced given the recent enlargement of the EU to 27 Member States.
The general question that guides this study is how Translational Advocacy Networks
(TANs) can exert power to enhance the state of investor protection within the new
member states of the European Union (EU). CFA Institute, a TAN in investment
management, constitutes the case study. Concentrating on CFA Institute as case study
provides the opportunity to examine the professionalisation processes in the making.
Professionalisation is characterised by the construction of acceptable knowledge claims
and by the creation of an environment that is receptive to these claims. Similarly, TANs
create policy expertise through the exchange of knowledge among stakeholders.
Within the framework of CFA Institute, this dissertation uses the Foucauldian notions of
power relations, discourse, and governmentality as well as the methodology offered by
Actor Network Theory (ANT) to study and present a conceptual framework of best
practices or conditions of possibility of TAN's employment of soft law. Many of the best
practices in the successful application of soft law in general can be applied to investor
protection in specific.
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