International finance law: transactions, policy, and regulation

Through lectures, case studies and other exercises it provides students with the theoretical and practical building blocks and conceptual tools necessary to understand and master the more advanced intellectual challenges posed by the interaction of law and policy in international financial transactions.

Topics covered

• Financing Needs
• Syndicated Lending
• Secured Financing and Inter-creditor Arrangements
• Bonds and Eurobonds
• Sovereign Bonds and Sovereign Debt Crises
• Securitisation and Financial Derivatives
• The Use of Legal Opinions
• Choice of Law and Jurisdiction and Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Judgments
• Financial Remedies

Learning outcomes

If you complete the module successfully, you should be able to:

• describe the basic corporate, banking and sovereign financing framework at the national, regional and transnational level.
• understand the theory and practice of financial regulation in a comparative context.
• critically discuss the internationalising and globalising context in which corporate, banking and sovereign frameworks operate and the policies that are continuously being reformed.
• describe financing techniques and the capital and financial markets.
• explain and evaluate the legal and policy issues relevant to the international finance law field.
• explain both the practical application and underlying forces in the international finance transactions, law and policy arenas.
• apply theoretical models to real world business solutions.
• identify complex international finance problems in a professional capacity and assess international finance transactions, law and policy challenges within the wider business context.
• distinguish between different borrowing/lending tools (loan, bond, structured finance, etc.)
• critically assess how to hedge risk using different techniques (contractual provisions, using collateral, derivatives, subordination, etc.)
• demonstrate communication skills (including the ability to articulate complex solutions to business related decisions, structure arguments and to effectively relate these in an independent piece of research work).
• utilise complex problem-solving skills to support international finance making, from transaction, law and policy perspectives.
• structure and document an international finance transaction.
• apply research skills into a financially related business problem and the application of these in the assembling and analysis of facts and situations.
• synthesise and use information and materials from a variety of different sources to support an argument.

Assessment

This module is assessed by:

Coursework (50% weighting):

• There is one item of coursework for this module which contributes to the final assessment mark for this module:
• Coursework: a written essay of a maximum of 2,000 or 2,500 words (deadline – weeks 9-12) The coursework is designed to check student progress, extend and reinforce concepts covered and also test individual performance.

Examination (50% weighting):

• The final piece of assessment will be an unseen written examination of 2 hours’ duration.

Essential reading

The following is provided as part of the course materials after you register:

• The Law and Practice of International Finance, Phillip Wood, Sweet & Maxwell (university edition), 2007
• International Finance: Transactions, Policy and Regulation, Hal Scott and Anna Gelpern, Foundation Press (university casebooks), 2012