International Financial Law

This course offers a cross-sectoral analysis covering financial market transactions in commercial banking, insurance, derivatives, capital markets and asset management. It allows participants to grasp the big picture of the legal underpinnings of financial transactions and to understand how risk in the financial market is entered, managed, dispersed and shifted.

The course analyses and compares the legal basis of financial transactions in both Common law and Civil law jurisdictions. The focus is mainly on broad principles and policy issues rather than a detailed examination of statute, case law and drafting in order to allow students from all jurisdictions to take home valuable knowledge directly applicable to their respective jurisdictions.

This course is designed to be of both high academic and direct practical value. It appeals to students preparing for a career in financial markets as well as to practitioners wishing to broaden their horizon. It will be of particular interest for:

- The private financial sector (management, compliance, legal, governmental and international affairs, etc)
- Legal practice specialising in the above-mentioned activities
- Government and governmental agencies (policymakers from treasuries, ministries of economy/finance/justice, foreign office, etc.)
- Central banks (management, legal, regulation and oversight, international affairs, etc.)
- International organisation and EU organs and agencies (policymakers, strategy, legal, international affairs, etc.)
- Non-governmental organisations and advocacy groups active in the field of international financial markets
- Students interested in any of the above, or pursuing a masters programme related to financial markets

This course is a good match with LL207 International Financial Regulation, which concerns the public law side of financial markets. In combination, these courses provide for the full picture of financial markets law and regulation. However, both courses are self-contained.

Programme structure:

- Introduction to financial law
- Creating risk - Raising capital
- Creating risk II and risk transfer
- Risk mitigation I – Security interests
- The distinction between fix and floating charge under English law
- Risk mitigation II – Financial collateral
- Risk mitigation III – Personal surety, derivatives
- Risk mitigation IV – Set off, netting and clearing
- Securitisation and Asset-backed securities
- Internationalisation of the Market
- Transfer of financial instruments
- Crypto assets in FinTech
- Financial sector insolvency – a special area of law?

Course leader

Dr Philipp Paech

Target group

Undergraduate and Graduate students.

Prerequisites: No specific knowledge of financial markets is required, see Reading materials for a good introduction. However, students from other disciplines need to familiarise with a number of fundamental concepts, such as property, contract and insolvency, before joining the course.

Course aim

- Understand how risk is created and managed by using different types of legal arrangements.
- Get to know the difficulties in making these arrangements insolvency proof and robust in times of financial crisis.
- Understand the legal difficulties that flow from the international character of the financial market.

Credits info

4 EC
Typical credit: 3-4 credits (US) 7.5 ECTS points (EU). You will need to check with your home institution. Assessment is optional.

Fee info

GBP 2500: Discounts apply when booking multiple courses. LSE Summer School runs three sessions during the summer, and students can book one course per session. Save 32% on your second course and 68% on your third course when booking.