Derivatives Law

LWM75

This course is an immensely practical course but also raises some very interesting theoretical questions about the way in which derivatives markets function and how the law and regulations should interact with them. This course will teach you things that it’s very difficult to learn anywhere else. Thinking about the way derivatives markets have functioned since the 1990’s, this course examines what has always been a secret knowledge that only financial market and financial law practitioners have understood. The purpose of this course is to teach you what derivatives are from a legal perspective and to show you how that documentation works and how the law and derivatives interact.

Study as an individual course

Module A: Analysing and documenting derivatives transactions

LWM75A

The nature of financial derivatives
The International Swaps and Derivatives Association (ISDA) Master Agreement structure
The provisions of the ISDA master agreement.

Module B: Terminating derivatives transactions

LWM75B

The ISDA termination scheme in outline
Events of default
Termination events
The ISDA termination procedure

Module C: Legal issues in taking security, collateralisation and the local authority swaps

LWM75C

Taking security under English law
Collateralisation in general terms
Standard market documentation for collateral
Lessons from the local authority swaps cases
Issues in the creation of financial derivatives.

Module D: The regulation of derivatives, credit derivatives and securitisation

LWM75D

Credit derivatives
Securitisation
Stock-lending and repo transactions
Derivatives and the financial crisis
Imposing liability on financial institutions for mis-selling derivatives after the financial crisis.

Assessment

Each module is assessed by a 45-minute unseen written exam.

Sequence

It is strongly recommended that you attempt the modules in order.

How to apply

You can apply to study a module individually as a standalone unit or as part of a Postgraduate Certificate, Postgraduate Diploma or Master of Laws qualification. (In either scenario, they must be studied in order.)

These modules also contribute towards the following specialist pathways for Laws:

Banking and Finance Law
Commercial and Corporate Law
Common Law
Corporate and Securities Law
Financial Services Law
International Business Law.

Apply via Postgraduate Laws

Professor Alastair Hudson

Professor Alastair Hudson FHEA, FRSA, is the Course Convenor for: Commercial Trusts Law, Securities Law, Equity and Trust in Context, International and Comparative Trusts Law, Law on Investment Entities, Private Aspects of the Law and Finance and Law of Financial Crime.

Alastair is an English barrister and academic. He was Professor of Equity & Law at Queen Mary University of London for fourteen years. Between 2012 and 2014, he was Professor of Equity and Finance Law at The University of Southampton. He is a National Teaching Fellow, a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy, and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts. He was voted UK Law Teacher of the Year in 2008 and was awarded the Excellence in Teaching Award 2014 by the University of Southampton for "Overall Outstanding Lecturer."