Javier Solana is Professor of Law and Finance at the University of Glasgow. His research explores how law shapes financial systems. In particular, how law may influence dynamics that undermine financial stability, and how law can support the transformation of financial systems so that they better support the transition to more sustainable economic models.

In his research, he incorporates insights from a wide range of disciplines, including Anthropology, Economics, Finance, International Political Economy and Sociology, and multidisciplinary areas of research such as complex systems science and Sustainability Science. He also combines doctrinal analysis with empirical analysis that draws from methods and approaches used in those disciplines and areas.

Prof. Solana collaborates with and advises central banks, regulators, financial institutions and NGOs who are actively working on the transition to more sustainable economic models. These collaborations have influenced important policy debates on this topic. For example, his research on the legal obligations of the European Central Bank (ECB) to take environmental protection into account influenced the outcome of the ECB’s Monetary Policy Strategy Review (as evidenced, for example, in Drudi et al (2021)) and the policy positions of several NGOs. Moreover, his research on climate litigation in the financial system informs the guidance that is currently being offered to more than 140 central banks and financial supervisors across the world on how to address climate-related litigation risks in the financial system (e.g. NGFS, 2023) and is now cited regularly by top ECB officials when discussing the ECB’s supervisory role (e.g. Elderson, 2023).

Prof. Solana holds a B.A. in Business Administration from Carlos III University of Madrid, and law degrees from Carlos III University of Madrid (LLB, MPhil), Harvard Law School (LLM), and the University of Oxford (DPhil). He has been a Visitng Scholar at Columbia Law School and the Stockholm Resilience Centre. From March 2025 he is also a Visiting Professor in the Grantham Research Institue at the London School of Economics and Political Sciences.

Javier is interested in the intersection between Law, Finance and Sustainability. Specific interests include the regulation of finance and, more specifically, the role of Law in supporting the transition to more sustainable economic models. 

List by: Type | Date

Prof. Solana has been awarded a number of research grants and scholarships, including the following:

2025

Economic & Social Research Council (ESRC) Impact Acceleration Account (IAA). With Dr Jean-Baptiste Jouffray (Stanford Center for Ocean Solutions and Stockholm Resilience Centre) as Co-Applicant. Awarded £10,000 by the ESRC to foster a dialogue between academic experts and various groups of stakeholders in payment systems about the impact of those systems on sustainability and its policy implications.

2024

European Research Council (ERC) Starting Grant. Awarded €1.49 million to fund a 5-year research project entitled “The legal foundations for a civic financial system” (2025-2030).

2021

European Central Bank (ECB) Legal Research Scholarship. Awarded €8,000 by the ECB to fund a research study on the legal nature of market neutrality in monetary policy in collaboration with Dr Marco Goldoni (University of Glasgow).

2018

Scottish Funding Council – “Global Challenges Research Fund – Meetings and Exchanges”. Co–Principal Investigator with Dr Anna Chadwick (University of Glasgow). Awarded £24,425 to organise two workshops and training sessions exploring the role that constitutions can play in fighting inequality leading to the publication of an edited collection.

Economic & Social Research Council (ESRC) Impact Acceleration Account (IAA). Awarded £8,670 by the ESRC to develop the research project “The potential of strategic litigation to promote sustainable finance in the EU” in collaboration with ClientEarth, an environmental law NGO.

2016

European Central Bank (ECB) Legal Research Scholarship. Awarded €10,000 by the ECB to fund a research study on the enhancement of transparency of creditor ranking rules in collaboration with Dr David Ramos (Universidad Carlos III de Madrid).

2015

European Central Bank (ECB) Legal Research Scholarship. Awarded €10,000 by the ECB to fund a research study on the possible limitations of the Banking Union in collaboration with Prof Marco Lamandini (Università di Bologna) and Dr David Ramos (Universidad Carlos III de Madrid).

Javier is interested in supervising research students in financial law and regulation, and, in particular, in the areas of derivatives, financial collateral, macroprudential regulation, financial stability and sustainable finance. He also welcomes applications in the broad area of law and economic development.

Current students

• Sezgin, Huseyin - Reassessment of the ECB's Democratic Accountability

• Alarcon Lopez, Paola
  It may be legal, but is it socially desirable?
• Dogra, Prarthana
  Sustainable Finance in Private Equity: Stewardship, Disclosure, and Regulatory Challenges in the Context of Climate Change
• Menegat, Martina
  The integration of nature-related financial risks in the EU macroprudential framework: a comparative legal perspective with the Brazilian experience
• Mičik, Lorena
  Taking security over crypto-assets
• Pagliari, Alberto
  Assessing inequalities issues in the European Central Bank’s mandates: a social and human rights perspective
• Verzobio, Luca
  “The Macroprudential Use of Transition Plans: A Social-Ecological Systems Approach to Climate-Related Systemic Financial Risk Management”
• Zhou, Shining
  Macroprudential Perspectives on Central Banks' Response to Systemic Risk in the Context of Climate Change

Prof. Solana teaches regularly in Financial Law and Financial Regulation courses across the Law School and the Business School. In addition, he leads the Finance and Social Justice Project, an experiential LLM course that gives students the opportunity to develop their own legal interventions to address pressing problems of social justice by leveraging the power of finance.