LWMFIN-Legal Aspects of International Financial Regulation

Module Provider: School of Law
Number of credits: 10 [5 ECTS credits]
Level:7
Terms in which taught: Spring term module
Pre-requisites:
Non-modular pre-requisites: Registered for a postgraduate programme in Law or selected MA programmes or with permission of the Director of PGT Studies in Law.
Co-requisites:
Modules excluded:
Current from: 2019/0

Email: a.miglionico@reading.ac.uk

Type of module:

Summary module description:

This module aims to help students understand:

• The legal basis, nature and purpose of financial regulation.


• The financial context and the organisation, purpose and structure of regulators.


• Soft law and hard law mechanisms – how regulators seek to address the risks posed to various stakeholders. 


• Regulatory policy development.


• Prudential and conduct of business aspects to regulation when managed and supervised by multi-agency regulatory bodies in financial markets. 


• The role of governance and culture in financial firms.


• Factors that make the financial services regulation and supervision complex or problematic. 


• The interaction between regulators, senior managers, risk managers, compliance professionals and auditors.


• The change and evolution of the regulatory architecture and framework for domestic and international financial institutions, especially post-crisis. 

Aims:

This module aims to help students understand:

• The legal basis, nature and purpose of financial regulation.


• The financial context and the organisation, purpose and structure of regulators.


• Soft law and hard law mechanisms – how regulators seek to address the risks posed to various stakeholders. 


• Regulatory policy development.


• Prudential and conduct of business aspects to regulation when managed and supervised by multi-agency regulatory bodies in financial markets. 


• The role of governance and culture in financial firms.


• Factors that make the financial services regulation and supervision complex or problematic. 


• The interaction between regulators, senior managers, risk managers, compliance professionals and auditors.


• The change and evolution of the regulatory architecture and framework for domestic and international financial institutions, especially post-crisis. 

Assessable learning outcomes:

On completion of the module, students will be expected to be able to:

1. Critically assess and compare the rules governing securities firms and other financial institutions in key jurisdictions.


2. Understand the regulatory processes that bring the law into being.


3. Critically assess the role of financial institutions from a combined legal and economic perspective.


4. Understand the tools and processes of financial supervision and crisis management.


5. Explain the relationships between regulated financial institutions and their regulators. 

Additional outcomes:

In addition to those listed in the School’s “core skills statement”, the module will encourage the development of:

• High-level oral communication skills through reflective, analytical class discussion.


• High-level writing skills through close and critical analysis of both primary and secondary source material.


• An ability to apply theoretical and contextual knowledge to practical problems that face people working in the field.

Outline content:

The purpose of this course is to examine the regulation of financial institutions and markets, and to contribute to a critical understanding of the subject matter through the analysis of the most relevant areas of financial market regulation, such as banking and securities. This subject has become very topical in the aftermath of global financial crisis, which has brought the issues of regulation, supervision and crisis management to the forefront of legal, economic and policy debate.

The course provides a contextual approach to the study of financial regulation, drawing on a comparative study of the law in relevant financial centres in the US, UK and EU as well as on the increasing corpus of international financial ‘soft law’. Focus is on the public regulation of national, European and international markets, and not on contractual or transactional aspects. 

Global context:

The aim is to provide an understanding of the debate on the appropriate institutional structures for regulating financial institutions at the national level, and the role of market players (eg credit rating agencies and hedge funds) in financial regulation and financial stability. The course is premised upon the notion that the student of financial regulation ought to develop a sound understanding of the various public policy choices available in financial markets in the light of regulatory theories, financial developments and public policy objectives. The course will provide a critical and insightful view of current regulatory developments with the aim to identify the most appropriate regulatory policies towards increasingly complex financial phenomena and markets trends.

Brief description of teaching and learning methods:

Teaching will be by seminar method, whereby material is prepared in advance and made available online for class discussion. Students are strongly advised to attend all classes. Students will make the most out of the course if they have adequately studied recommended material relevant to each particular lecture.

This will strengthen students’ understanding of the more specialist issues which normally follow later in the academic year. Adequate essay preparation entails a full understanding of the subject-matter. Teaching in this module is designed to provide students with a range of resources on which they can draw in their learning. The main elements are:

• A list of required and recommended readings, with notes and questions that will be used to guide class discussion and reflection.


• Six weekly seminar classes of 2 hours each. These are discussion-based classes.


• One optional non-assessed formative essay that will be used to develop students’ skills and knowledge.

Reading List:

Unfortunately, in order to cover all relevant issues on a very dynamic topic there is no single book that covers all the topics in a current fashion. Materials for each class will be made available to students through the course website. An indicative list of key textbooks, treatises and specialist books on Financial Regulation, which cover several of the subjects, will be provided on Blackboard.

Summative assessment- Examinations:

Summative assessment- Coursework and in-class tests:

1 x 8 page essay (formatted in accordance with the School of Law’s Assessed Work Rules). 

Formative assessment methods:

1 x 8 page essay (formatted in accordance with the School of Law’s Assessed Work Rules).

Penalties for late submission:
Penalties for late submission on this module are in accordance with the University policy. Please refer to page 5 of the Postgraduate Guide to Assessment for further information: http://www.reading.ac.uk/internal/exams/student/exa-guidePG.aspx

Assessment requirements for a pass:

50% overall 

Reassessment arrangements:

See School of Law PGT Programme Handbook 

Additional Costs (specified where applicable):

Last updated: 10 April 2019