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LAW47715: FINANCIAL REGULATION

It is possible that changes to modules or programmes might need to be made during the academic year, in response to the impact of Covid-19 and/or any further changes in public health advice.

Type Open
Level 4
Credits 15
Availability Available in 2024/2025
Module Cap None.
Location Durham
Department Law

Prerequisites

  • None

Corequisites

  • None

Excluded Combinations of Modules

  • None

Aims

  • To introduce students to the structure and functioning of the financial system, including actors, regulators, supervisors, and core products, services and instruments offered;
  • To provide a good knowledge of the basic institutional architecture and governance of the UK financial system and, when possible, of the EU and the international financial system;
  • To introduce students to the regulatory obligations applicable to banks, investment firms, and market infrastructures when buying or offering a financial product and/or service under English law;
  • To provide a good understanding of the nature of money and payments;
  • To encourage an awareness of the social and economic contexts and the systemic goals that influence the regulation of financial products and services.

Content

  • The structure of the financial system (banks, investment firms, payment firms, investors, consumers, regulators, supervisors);
  • Capital regulation;
  • Liquidity regulation;
  • Money and payment systems;
  • Bank supervision and supervisory fines;
  • Regulation and supervision of capital markets.

Learning Outcomes

Subject-specific Knowledge:

  • Students will gain a basic understanding of the financial system and its basic components;
  • Students will gain a basic understanding of the principles of financial regulation as they apply at the UK, EU, and international levels;
  • Students should familiarize themselves with the secondary literature on financial law and financial policy;
  • Students should be able to demonstrate knowledge of the key legal, regulatory, and supervisory issues relating to the working of banks, investment firms, and other financial institutions;
  • Students should be able to understand the evolution of the financial system and to critically analyze such developments.

Subject-specific Skills:

  • Students will be able to identify and describe the roles played by the UK, EU, and international policymaking, regulatory and supervisory bodies responsible for the health of the financial system;
  • Students will be able to identify the legal issues relevant to specific problems relating to finance and financial regulation and supervision;
  • Students will be able to articulate and apply the core principles of financial law and regulation to real financial scenarios;
  • Students will be able to explain the limitations of the current legal, regulatory and supervisory system;
  • Students will be able to engage in informed debate on the evolution of the law in the field of banking and capital markets law.

Key Skills:

  • Demonstrate developed research and writing skills, including working independently and taking responsibility for their own learning;
  • Develop expertise in conducting research into regulatory materials from a variety of national and comparative sources;
  • Describe accurately and comprehensibly the arguments and analysis of other commentators;
  • Show the skill of formulating complex policy arguments.

Modes of Teaching, Learning and Assessment and how these contribute to the learning outcomes of the module

  • The teaching will be based on seminars supported by substantial but targeted reading assignments before each seminar to provide a deeper understanding of the issues. The readings are selected from established doctrinal sources and cutting-edge scholarship in the area;
  • The assessment supports the aims of the teaching methods. The summative essay will assess the ability of the students to analyze the subject material, conduct research, and present a structured and articulate argument on the subject.

Teaching Methods and Learning Hours

ActivityNumberFrequencyDurationTotalMonitored
seminars8Normally weekly2 hrs16 
preparation and reading134 
TOTAL150 

Summative Assessment

Component: EssayComponent Weighting: 100%
ElementLength / DurationElement WeightingResit Opportunity
summative essay3,000 words100Y

Formative Assessment

More information

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