Failure of self-regulation and lack of government oversight are popular explanations of current financial crisis. Self-regulation generally results from governmentâs decision to delegate the management of a regulatory process to industry. Self-regulation is financed and maintained by the industry through trade associations: a self-regulatory agency and an interest group. .x000d.This paper considers structure and dynamics of banking fields in Ireland, UK and USA. Since 1999 banking in Ireland has been regulated both at the national and the EU levels and primarily on the national level in UK and USA. Using network analysis tools we map the dynamics of these three fields from the 1950s. We demonstrate that banking fields, which are represented by strong trade associations, characterised by high density of professional membership and strong relationship with the regulatory authorities, exhibit stronger ability to offset and cope with exogenous shocks. When links with members and/or government weaken, the ability to offset and resist shocks decreases. Our findings suggest that the function of trade associations as self-regulatory agencies can provide an effective alternative to direct government regulation often proposed in crises. ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]