Module LAW40930: INTERNATIONAL BANKING LAW

Department: Law

LAW40930: INTERNATIONAL BANKING LAW

Prerequisites

• None.

Corequisites

• None.

Excluded Combination of Modules

• None.

Aims

• To develop a sound knowledge of the law and practice of modern international banking and relevant legal issues;
• To understand how and why banks are regulated in world markets, in particular with reference to international banks and the theoretical reasons for and against regulation;
• To appreciate the principal sources and techniques of regulation and risk management including an understanding of the legal and functional requirements for bank capital;
• To develop a sound understanding of the principles and techniques involved in international financing;
• To appreciate the central role of international banking in the operation of international capital markets;
• To appreciate the operation and regulation of the consumer credit market.

Content

• This module will provide students with a sound understanding of the law and practice of modern international banking. It will examine the legal framework of international banking and related legal issues and consider current trends in international and UK banking. There will be detailed analysis of the regulation and prudential supervision of banks in the UK and EU, with emphasis on capital adequacy and assessment of banking risks, and the use of prudential techniques in risk management. International banking facilities will be examined, with particular reference to syndicated loans, security interests and lender liability. Students will also gain an appreciation of the main features of international capital markets, focusing on international bond issues. The international banking industry will be discussed in the wider context considering important contemporary issues such as money laundering and issues of environmental and social responsibility. The course will also look at the increasingly important market for the provision of consumer credit and the regulatory techniques used to avoid the exploitation of unsophisticated consumer borrowers.

Learning Outcomes

• The laws, treaties, agreements and political conventions governing international banking law;
• The major functions of banks in an international arena and recent topical changes to banking structure;
• The regulation and prudential supervision of banks in the UK and EU;
• The role of international banks, supranational bodies and international capital markets (focusing on international bond issues) and markets for foreign exchange;
• Recent legal developments poignant to the international banking environment, in particular UK and EU anti-money laundering provisions;
• The broader issues affecting international banking, in particular banking and matters of environmental and social responsibility;
• The regulation of the consumer credit market by illustration of regulatory techniques and methods in the UK and the European Union.

• The ability to identify and analyse the laws, treaties, agreements and political conventions referred to above;
• The ability to identify and to understand the major functions of banks in an international arena and recent topical changes to banking structure;
• Developing an appreciation of recent legal developments poignant to the international banking environment, in particular UK and EU anti-money laundering provisions.

• A systematic understanding of knowledge, and a critical awareness of current problems and/or new insights, much of which is at, or informed by, the forefront of their academic discipline, field of study, or area of professional practice;
• A comprehensive understanding of techniques applicable to their own research or advanced scholarship;
• Originality in the application of knowledge, together with a practical understanding of how established techniques of research and enquiry are used to create and interpret knowledge in the discipline;
• Conceptual understanding that enables the student: to evaluate critically current research and advanced scholarship in the discipline; and to evaluate methodologies and develop critiques of them, and, where appropriate, to propose new hypotheses.

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

• The module will be taught by seminars, supported by private study by students. Assessment will be by written essays.

Teaching Methods and Learning Hours

Summative Assessment

Formative Assessment:

One formative essay of approximately 2,500 words in length.

■ Attendance at all activities marked with this symbol will be monitored. Students who fail to attend these activities, or to complete the summative or formative assessment specified above, will be subject to the procedures defined in the University's General Regulation V, and may be required to leave the University