Postgraduate Module Descriptor

LAWM080: International Banking Law

This module descriptor refers to the 2021/2 academic year.

Module Aims

The module aims to introduce those students interested in commercial law, international law, and wider development studies to the operation of the international banking and securities finance systems. It aims to give you the opportunity to explore the development and purpose of banking regulations, and to discuss their operation in context, including Fintech. While a key aim is to give you the opportunity to acquire an in-depth knowledge of the law in this area, the module also aims to enable you to evaluate the competing pressures on the banking market today, and the innovative sustainable finance developments. It aims to give students interested in pursuing a career in the area of commercial law a sound introduction to the key principles and practices of international banking law.

Intended Learning Outcomes (ILOs)
This module's assessment will evaluate your achievement of the ILOs listed here - you will see reference to these ILO numbers in the details of the assessment for this module.
On successfully completing the programme you will be able to:
Module-Specific Skills	1. Demonstrate a detailed and systematic knowledge of the international regulatory structures applied to modern banks, and evaluate whether such structures address the problems of regulation posed by the recent international financial crisis (the so-called credit crunch); 2. Demonstrate a detailed and systematic understanding of the role of bank lending in relation to major infrastructure projects with particular attention to environmental considerations; 3. Demonstrate deep and critical awareness of a wide range of social and contextual implications of the various legal dimensions of international banking;
Discipline-Specific Skills	4. Demonstrate detailed and comprehensive knowledge of international, European Union and UK legal instruments, case-law, statutory materials and critical legal literature as well as critical awareness of their contextual implications; 5. Demonstrate flexible and innovative capacity to analyse complex legal problems, identify the relative significance of applicable rules and principles, and select appropriate methods for investigating and critically evaluating them; 6. Apply detailed and comprehensive legal knowledge to a problem and argue alternative approaches;
Personal and Key Skills	7. Identify, retrieve and use the full range of available resources efficiently and autonomously for specific learning tasks; 8. Clarify, plan and undertake tasks confidently and independently, individually and/or with others, to reflect critically on the learning process and to make use of feedback effectively; 9. Work independently, within a limited time frame, to complete a specified task.

Module Content

Syllabus Plan

Whilst the module’s precise content may vary from year to year it is envisaged that the syllabus will cover the following topics:

General history and introduction of the development of modern banking, including shadow banking, securities finance and Fintech
The structure of international banking regulation in particular the work of the Financial Stability Board and the Bank of International Settlements and Basle I-III Agreements
European Union Banking regulation in particular the operation of the Single Supervisory Mechanism and the European Banking Authority
UK banking regulation – the role of the Bank of England, the Prudential Regulatory Authority and the Financial Conduct Authority in relation to the operation of banks
Old and new currencies, including Bitcoin.
The regulation of money laundering and terrorist financing
The banker-customer relationship and the key private law elements of typical banking contracts that are important in relation to business lending
The law relating to commercial loans – using a syndicated loan as a case study
Sustainable Finance, the Law and Stakeholders framework.
The role of multilateral financial institutions (e.g. the World Bank Group) and niche organisations such as the Global Alliance for Banking on Values in bringing regulatory changes for sustainable banking
Environmental obligations imposed on banks in relation to large scale project finance – and in particular the operation of the Equator Principles

Learning and Teaching

This table provides an overview of how your hours of study for this module are allocated:

Scheduled Learning and Teaching Activities	Guided independent study	Placement / study abroad
30	270	0

...and this table provides a more detailed breakdown of the hours allocated to various study activities:

Category	Hours of study time	Description
Scheduled Learning & Teaching activities	3	1 x 3 hour introductory lecture session.
Scheduled Learning & Teaching activities	9	9 x 1 hour overview lectures relating to the material which will be the subject of the following weeks seminar. Lectures which introduce students to particular topics and will provide the foundation for independent guided study.
Scheduled Learning & Teaching activities	18	9 x 2 hour lecturer-led, two-hour seminars (total of nine). Students will be expected to participate in making at least one presentation, either individually or, if numbers are large, as part of a team, during the course of the seminar programme.
Guided independent study	160	Preparation for seminars, including seminar presentations.
Guided independent study	60	Preparation for (written) formative exercise and summative assessment.
Guided independent study	50	Other guided independent study, such as individual research and reading.

Online Resources

This module has online resources available via ELE (the Exeter Learning Environment).

Use of law databases – such as Westlaw, Lexisnexis, Lawtel as well as the Library Electronic Journals database, to consult especially the Journal of International Banking Law and Regulation. You will also be encouraged to use the FT.com website.