The road to re-regulation may be paved with good intentions, but it's been a bumpy ride so far, with no end in sight. Regulatory activity around the world ratcheted up 16% in 2011, according to a recent Thomson Reuters Governance, Risk Management and Compliance report, to 14,215 alerts from 12,179 in 2010. Alerts are defined as indications of a new regulatory direction, ranging from a speech to a final rule.

Just four years ago, in 2008, such pronouncements totaled a mere 8,704, the report says. The pace is expected to soar this year since 80% of Dodd-Frank rules have yet to be completed. When the final versions are written, companies are likely to go into overdrive as they try to implement several major mandates at once, sending compliance costs soaring. The report notes that the global reach for order and control doesn't mean all rules will be alike, and warns that companies must keep up with regulatory activity in all the markets where they operate.

The March issue of Treasury & Risk takes a look at how regulations that pose significant consequences for corporate finance and treasury worldwide are shaping up, including Basel III and SEPA in Europe and the Volcker Rule, money market fund regulations and derivatives rules in the U.S.