Postgraduate Course: Regulation of international Finance: the Law, the Economics, the Politics (LAWS11285)
Course Outline
| School | School of Law |
College | College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences |
| Credit level (Normal year taken) | SCQF Level 11 (Postgraduate) |
Availability | Not available to visiting students |
| SCQF Credits | 40 |
ECTS Credits | 20 |
| Summary | Global financial markets have gone through various stages of development since Bretton Woods. Crises, internationalisation, financialisation, technological advancement, and market and regulatory innovation have elevated financial markets to a position akin to being the heartbeat of the global economy. Especially, since 2008 the regulation of international finance has become the subject of extensive reform at the global, regional (EU), and national level.
This course examines the workings of global finance and the institutional edifice supporting it, based on modern regulatory theory and practice, from an interdisciplinary perspective. This offers a holistic and in-depth overview of the economic, regulatory, and political framework under which financial markets operate internationally but also (supra-) nationally. |
| Course description |
Therefore, in the first semester, the course touches on the role of global financial markets and the interplay between the different segments of global financial markets. To this effect, the course examines the evolution of financial law and regulation and respective theories influenced by several crises but, most importantly, the Global Financial Crisis. Emphasis is given to the study of national regulatory structures as well as of the international bodies that regulate global finance, eg the Basel Committee and the Financial Stability Board (FSB). Moreover, the course will offer a critical analysis and insight of the main pillars of bank prudential regulation, including capital adequacy standards for banks and liquidity ratios. In that respect, the course will also have practical value for students who want to practise in the field of bank compliance and regulation.
This overview of the regulation of international finance at the intersections of law, economics, and politics, achieved during the first part of the course, allows for a discussion of further contemporary developments and challenges in the field of international finance, such as digital currencies, platform finance and financial technology, in addition to the emergence of shadow banking, and an in-depth examination of specific regulatory reforms and structures of contemporary significance by focusing on specific jurisdictions, namely the EU, the US, and the UK.
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Entry Requirements (not applicable to Visiting Students)
| Pre-requisites |
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Co-requisites | |
| Prohibited Combinations | |
Other requirements | None |
Course Delivery Information
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| Academic year 2024/25, Not available to visiting students (SS1)
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Quota: 26 |
| 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 )
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| Assessment (Further Info) |
Written Exam
0 %,
Coursework
100 %,
Practical Exam
0 %
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| Additional Information (Assessment) |
Summative Assessment:
Component marks contribute to student's overall course mark/grade. The aim of summative assessments is to assess student learning).
1) 4000 Word Essay (40%)
2) 6000 Word Essay (60%) |
| Feedback |
Oral and written feedback will be provided to all students on several occasions throughout the course, e.g. either on the basis of their active participation during the seminars or in relation to the formative and summative assessments.
Although the format and type of the summative assessments are predefined as indicated above, the format and type of the formative assessments will be announced in due course at the start or during the course, since those will be adjusted accordingly and to the extent possible to the particular skills and needs of the respective cohort. To be specific, all students might be invited to present in class on either a suggested topic or a topic of their choice. Before the presentation students might be invited also to submit on an individual basis a written summary of their presentation of no more than 800-1,000 words (or 4,000 words on a group basis) on which they are given one-on-one and written feedback.
The course organiser strongly recommends the formation from the beginning of the term of mixed background study groups whose value in adding student understanding of the key concepts of this predominantly interdisciplinary course may not be underestimated. This way, students learn how to overhaul their teamwork and interview skills as well as how to work with team members from diverse study backgrounds in mixed law and finance teams and learn how to engage in interdisciplinary research, dialogue, and teamwork. |
| No Exam Information |
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this course, the student will be able to:
- Demonstrate knowledge and understanding of (a) the mechanics of global financial markets in general and the objectives these could serve (b) the challenges financial markets raise with respect to the regulatory objectives (c) the regulatory techniques used to address those challenges with reference to the standards issued by international and national regulators and (d) the core theories of regulation, eg public interest theory, regulatory capture theory, concepts and principles of International financial regulation.
- Critically discuss, analyse and evaluate complex hypothetical or real cases and theoretical questions on the regulation of international finance from an interdisciplinary perspective.
- Present and evaluate arguments on the application of financial regulation or with respect to regulatory policy questions in the field of international finance.
- 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.
- Independently research relevant policies, laws, and scholarship in the wider area of regulating international finance and apply this research to in-class discussions, debates, presentations, and assessments.
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Reading List
Below part of the core reading list of the course is introduced. Additional weekly reading lists will be provided which will focus on the specific topics discussed and explored through the weekly seminars.
John Armour et al, Principles of Financial Regulation (Oxford University Press, 2016)
D W Arner et al, Systemic Risk in the Financial Sector: Ten Years after the Great Crash (McGill-Queen's University Press, 2019)
Emilios Avgouleas and David C. Donald, The Political Economy of Financial Regulation (Cambridge University Press, 2019)
Emilios Avgouleas, Governance of Global Financial Markets: The Law, the Economics, the Politics (Cambridge University Press, 2012)
Iris Chiu and Gudula Deipenbrock, Routledge Handbook of Financial Technology and Law (Routledge, 1st ed, 2021)
Sir Ross Cranston, Emilios Avgouleas, Kristin van Zwetien, Christopher Hare and Theodor van Sante, Principles of Banking Law (Oxford University Press, 3rd ed, 2018)
S Gleeson, Gleeson on the International Regulation of Banking (Oxford University Press, 3rd edn, 2018)
Niamh Moloney, Eilis Ferran and Jennifer Payne (eds), The Oxford Handbook of Financial Regulation (Oxford University Press, 2015)
Niamh Moloney, EU Securities and Financial Markets Regulation (Oxford University Press, 2023)
Matthias Haentjens and Pierre de Gioia Carabellese, European Banking and Financial Law (Routledge, 2nd ed, 2020)
Stephen Valdez and Philip Molyneux, An Introduction to Global Financial Markets (Bloomsbury Publishing, 8th ed, 2015)
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Additional Information
| Graduate Attributes and Skills |
1. On completion of the course, the students should be able to show an in-depth understanding of financial markets, the banking industry, shadow banking, derivatives markets and attendant risks as well and the objectives and content of financial stability regulation and supervision, especially with respect to bank regulation, supervision and resolution.
2. On completion of the course, the students should be able to analyse a host of problems in global markets and the banking industry and the tools formal regulation and regulatory theory and practice employ to address financial risk, especially the risk of financial instability and the regulatory framework utilised to mitigate requisite problems in the EU, USA, UK and at the global level.
3. On completion of the course, the students should be able to advise on the nature of risks arising in global markets with particular reference to the banking industry and derivatives markets and the principles, rules, and standards financial regulation and regulatory practice employ to address them, with reference to applicable legislation and regulatory rulebooks.
4. On completion of the course, the students should be able to provide expert advice on the application of hard and soft law measures in the EU, UK, USA, and attendant regulatory practice. |
| Keywords | Banking and finance,regulatory theories,objectives and practices,risk,inter-/multi-disciplinary |
Contacts
| Course organiser | Dr Evgenia Ralli
Tel:
Email: eralli@ed.ac.uk |
Course secretary | Miss Hannah Ackroyd
Tel: (0131 6)50 2008
Email: hackroyd@ed.ac.uk |
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