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DEGREE REGULATIONS & PROGRAMMES OF STUDY 2014/2015
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DRPS : Course Catalogue : School of Law : Law

Postgraduate Course: Regulation of international Finance: the Law, the Economics, the Politics (LAWS11285)

Course Outline
SchoolSchool of Law CollegeCollege of Humanities and Social Science
Credit level (Normal year taken)SCQF Level 11 (Postgraduate) AvailabilityNot available to visiting students
SCQF Credits40 ECTS Credits20
SummaryGlobal financial markets have gone through various stages of development since Bretton Woods. In the past two decades, liberalisation, technological advancement, and market innovation have elevated financial markets to a position akin to being the heartbeat of the global economy. However, since 2008 they seem to have fallen into a state of irremediable disrepair. Thus, while global finance was before 2008 either unregulated or its regulation was largely a matter of national regimes (with the exception of the EU), ever since the regulation of International finance has become the subject of extensive reform at the global, regional (EU), and national level. Most of the new regulations target ¿too-big-to-fail¿ institutions and intend to bolster systemic stability. But regulatory reform has not stopped with banks it has been extended to regulation of hedge funds, credit rating agencies, OTC derivatives markets and a host of other interlinked areas.

This course will examine the workings of global finance and the institutional edifice supporting it from an interdisciplinary perspective (law, economics, politics). As such it will discuss the role of global financial markets in the modern world and the interplay between the different economic and institutional actors within global markets. Particular emphasis will be given in the study of soft law bodies that regulate global finance such as the Financial Stability Board and the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision. The second part of the course will be an analytical examination of financial regulation in the US, the EU, and the UK. It will discuss in some depth recent US, EU, UK regulatory reforms in the field of systemic risk and bank supervision and investor protection.
Course description The course will cover the following topics:
1. the essential functions of capital markets and the role of banks in the economy x 2hrs
2. the most important institutions and markets comprising the global financial system x 2hrs
3. theories of financial regulation x 4hrs
4. International financial architecture and the soft law bodies (FSB, BCBS, IOSCO) regulating international finance x 2hrs
5. the causes of the global financial crisis x 4hrs
6. overview of reforms in market infrastructure, OTC derivatives, hedge funds x 2hrs
7. the Revised Basle Capital Adequacy Framework x 4hrs
8. the regulation of investment services in the EU
(historical development, MiFID) x 2hrs
9. the regulation of the banking sector in the EU (bank supervision, resolution, systemic risk monitoring) x 4hrs
10. overview of the US regulatory system x 2hrs
11. systemic risk supervision and bank regulation in the US x 4hrs
12. UK regulation of financial services
(History, regulatory structures, reform) x 8hrs
Entry Requirements (not applicable to Visiting Students)
Pre-requisites Co-requisites
Prohibited Combinations Other requirements None
Course Delivery Information
Academic year 2014/15, Not available to visiting students (SS1) Quota:  25
Course Start Full Year
Timetable Timetable
Learning and Teaching activities (Further Info) Total Hours: 400 ( Seminar/Tutorial Hours 40, Programme Level Learning and Teaching Hours 8, Directed Learning and Independent Learning Hours 352 )
Assessment (Further Info) Written Exam 0 %, Coursework 100 %, Practical Exam 0 %
Additional Information (Assessment) 2 essays (worth 40% and 60%)
Feedback Not entered
No Exam Information
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this course, the student will be able to:
  1. Demonstrate and/or work with:
    A broad knowledge of:
    (a) the mechanics of global financial markets in general and the welfare goals these could serve
    (b) the challenges financial markets raise with respect to systemic stability and investor protection
    (c) the regulatory techniques used to address those challenges

    Knowledge that is embedded in the main theories of regulation and concepts and principles of International financial regulation.

    An awareness of the evolving/changing nature of global finance and understanding of the main rationales and strands of regulatory reforms.

    An understanding of the mechanics and regulation of global finance with reference to the standards issues by International (soft law) regulators and the reformed EU, US, and UK regulatory regimes.
  2. Use their acquired knowledge and research skills to critically discuss, analyse and evaluate:

    (1) the mechanics of international finance (at a general level) and
    (2) the institutional edifice, the different rules and standards and the competing policy objectives and public interest considerations underlying:
    (a) International standards for the regulation of banks and of capital markets
    (b) the causes of and the regulatory challenges created by the global financial crisis and proposals for reform of International financial regulation
    (c) the EU regulation of investment services
    (d) the EU regulatory framework for the supervision of systemic risk and of EU banks
    (e) the UK¿s institutional structure for the regulation of financial services
  3. Upon completion of the course students will be able to present and evaluate arguments on the application of financial regulation or with respect to regulatory policy questions in the field of International finance and use a range of approaches to consider policy questions relating to regulation of International finance and regulatory reform.
  4. Through seminar attendance, problem-based enquiry and group discussion, students will develop a range of analytical and communication skills to convey complex ideas underpinning the mechanics of International finance and its regulation in a well-structured and coherent form.
  5. Through independent work, research and analysis as evidenced by the set assessment methods students will be able to demonstrate initiative and the ability to work autonomously
    and take responsibility for their own work as well as give presentations to answer questions that resemble the provision of legal advice on the application of financial regulation or consideration of financial policy.
Reading List
None
Additional Information
Graduate Attributes and Skills Not entered
KeywordsNot entered
Contacts
Course organiserProf Emilios Avgouleas
Tel: (0131 6)50 2028
Email: eavgoule@exseed.ed.ac.uk
Course secretaryMs Ginny Spencer
Tel: (0131 6)51 4246
Email: Ginny.Spencer@ed.ac.uk
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