Purpose: The aim of the paper is to answer the questions (1) whether the reforms of the regulations in the banking sector were effective and (2) which mechanisms discipline the behavior of banks. Moreover, we also raise a question how the behavior of banks depends on the institutional environment.

Methodology: To achieve the objectives, the article uses probit analysis on panel data covering the years: 1995–2006 for the entire period, and for years: 1999–2004 and 2004–2006 for 350 banks from OECD countries.

Findings: The quantitative results clearly argue for banking regulation, rather than leaving the supervision of the banking sector market discipline. However, the survey results also show that the behavior of banks depends largely on the institutional environment. Therefore, we questioned whether the currently proposed regulatory reforms that are homogeneous in nature will be effective in disciplining banks.

Practical implications: Among many reforms that are proposed the most important concerns are ones on banking regulation. Some believe that regulation of the banking sector should not be such useful, others believe that regulations are needed, which showed the fi nancial crisis in 2007–2011.