THE UNIVERSITY of EDINBURGH

DEGREE REGULATIONS & PROGRAMMES OF STUDY 2022/2023

Timetable information in the Course Catalogue may be subject to change.

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DRPS : Course Catalogue : School of Law : Law

Postgraduate Course: Sustainable Law and Finance (LAWS11491)

Course Outline
SchoolSchool of Law CollegeCollege of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences
Credit level (Normal year taken)SCQF Level 11 (Postgraduate) AvailabilityNot available to visiting students
SCQF Credits20 ECTS Credits10
SummaryThis is an interdisciplinary course that will provide students with knowledge and understanding of current issues in sustainable law and finance.

Seminars will involve discussion of theoretical questions inspired by recent academic literature from the fields of law, finance and economics. This will be combined with an in-depth analysis of real-life practical case studies drawn from current events which will help students to appreciate how the theory operates and is applied in practice.
Course description 10 seminar topics are envisaged to be as follows:

1. Introduction to Sustainable Law & Finance
2. The rise of ESG Investing: From CSR to ESG
3. ESG Metrics, ESG Index Funds and Index Providers
4. ESG Activism 1: Responsible Activists (NGOs, pension funds and collaboration among shareholders)
5. ESG Activism 2: Activist Hedge Funds
6. Boards and Sustainability: Directors Duties and Climate Expertise
7. Asset Managers and Shareholder Stewardship
8. Private Equity and Sustainability
9. Venture Capital and Impact Investing
10. Sustainable Executive Pay

*CSR = Corporate Social Responsibility
*ESG = Environmental, Social and Governance

Seminars will involve an introduction to the topic, a discussion of theoretical questions inspired by current academic literature on sustainable law and finance, and an in-depth study of real life practical case studies which will help students to appreciate how the theoretical issues play out in a practical context.
Entry Requirements (not applicable to Visiting Students)
Pre-requisites Co-requisites
Prohibited Combinations Other requirements None
Course Delivery Information
Academic year 2022/23, Not available to visiting students (SS1) Quota:  25
Course Start Semester 2
Timetable Timetable
Learning and Teaching activities (Further Info) Total Hours: 200 ( Lecture Hours 20, Programme Level Learning and Teaching Hours 4, Directed Learning and Independent Learning Hours 176 )
Assessment (Further Info) Written Exam 0 %, Coursework 100 %, Practical Exam 0 %
Additional Information (Assessment) Presentation - 25%
End of Semester Essay (3,500 words): 75%
Feedback The formative assessment will be completed after week 3, with feedback released in the middle of the semester, before class presentations take place in weeks 6-10.
The formative assessment is directly related to one of the components of the summative assement. Namely, the formative assessment memo / response paper will take the same format as the memo / response paper that students will be required to submit as part of their presentation (assessed for the class participation grade) so it will be helpful for them to receive feedback on the formative assessment in preparation for this assessed part of the course.
No Exam Information
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this course, the student will be able to:
  1. critical understand contemporary theories and current debates in the interdisciplinary field of sustainable law and finance and the rationale underpinning law reforms and market behaviour in this area
  2. gain experience in applying these theoretical ideas to practical case studies and analyse how these theories are exemplified in current events
Reading List
Resources for this course will be recently published law review articles that are publicly available. There is no up-to-date academic or student-focused text available that would make a suitable textbook for this course.

The recently published books that are relevant to this course all seem to be currently available with online access in the University Library (e.g. Elizabeth Pollman & Robert B. Thompson (eds.) Research Handbook on Corporate Purpose and Personhood (Edward Elgar, 2021)).

The course will also refer to working papers that are publicly available on SSRN and to law reform materials, academic blog posts and articles from the financial press.
Additional Information
Graduate Attributes and Skills Students will develop the skills of working independently in critically analysing interdisciplinary legal, finance and economics literature. They will also become familiar with material from different jurisdictions, as the topics covered in the course are of global importance. Students will become experienced in applying the theoretical material to practical case studies that will be drawn from events that are in the public domain / financial press. Students will also gain independent research and presentation skills as they will be
required to present their ideas and analysis to the class in both written and verbal form.

Students will draw links between the theoretical and practical aspects of the course to form their own opinions
on the most urgent issues in law and finance and society more generally. They will also be encouraged to identify and offer proposals for legal reform based on their critical analysis.

Students will need to manage their time effectively and use their own motivation to prepare for seminars and to link the theoretical aspects of the course to the practical case studies and to current events in sustainable law and finance. They will also exercise initiative in presenting ideas in an original and creative way.
KeywordsNot entered
Contacts
Course organiserMs Anna Christie
Tel:
Email: Anna.Christie@ed.ac.uk
Course secretaryMiss Bethan Walters
Tel: (0131 6)50 2386
Email: bethan.walters@ed.ac.uk
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