Comparative Analysis of International Regulatory Practices for Green Financial Instruments Market: EU, USA, China and Russia

Under the transformation of global financial architecture pressured by climate threats, environmental catastrophes and carbon regulation, the green bond market acts not merely as a capital redistribution instrument, but as an institutional marker of transition to post-carbon economy. The relevance of this research is determined not only by the growth of green financing volumes, but also by a systemic trust crisis caused by fragmented regulatory frameworks, taxonomy inconsistencies and growing greenwashing practices, which threatens the legitimacy of the entire sustainable financing ecosystem. This work aims at multidimensional comparative analysis of regulatory paradigms in three key jurisdictions – European Union, USA and China – with subsequent diagnostics of institutional dysfunctions exemplified by Russia and other developing economies. Research objectives include: (1) reconstruction of regulatory legal foundations, (2) analysis of causal relationships between regulatory stringency and cost of capital, (3) assessment of verification and disclosure mechanisms effectiveness, (4) development of author's integral regulatory maturity rating model (IRMR), (5) formulation of recommendations for international experience adaptation. Main results show that high degree of normative determination (EU) ensures maximum transparency but reduces flexibility, while market autonomy (USA) generates innovations but amplifies information asymmetry, and centralized stimulation (China) mobilizes large-scale resources but limits accountability. Practical significance lies in developing institutional development strategy for Russian green bond market. Scientific novelty consists in proposing experimental regulatory maturity model including nonlinear weight coefficients, as well as identifying regulatory efficiency paradox: higher formal system maturity leads to higher transaction costs, creating feedback between legitimacy and accessibility. The work contributes to institutional economics theory, information asymmetry theory and political economy of sustainable finance.

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