INTERMEDIATION AND FINANCIAL MARKETS LAW ADVANCED COURSE
Instructional goals
The main objective of the course is to provide the tools for the students’ first approach to financial law and a basic legal knowledge aimed at understanding the historical evolution, the competent institutions, the subjects involved and the main activities of the financial markets as well as the relationship among institutions, law and economy. The approach will be systematic.
The course aims to develop critical analysis skills and practical application of the main issues to current reality.
The evolution of the financial regulation will be analyzed with particular attention to the most critical aspects and the main innovation trends; focus on the forms of protection of the investors; ratio of some recent events affecting the banking-financial sector as well as the evolution of phenomena relating to the digitalization of finance and the changes resulting from technological innovation applied to financial markets.
Taking into account the regulatory and jurisprudential evolution of the sector, the analysis of the sources is aimed at acquiring useful tools for monitoring updates.
The course aims to give the student the ability to integrate interdisciplinary knowledge, linking the legal subjects to the technical-financial ones through the understanding and application of topics, as well as providing the necessary financial –legal knowledge for professionals.
Prerequisites
In order to facilitate the access to the course, basic knowledge of civil law and commercial law are appropriate. Essential notions will be provided during the course according to the level of students' knowledge.
Course Contents
SUMMARY: Analysis of financial intermediaries’ regulation with particular reference to banks and other authorized firms. The rules of conduct. Collective asset management. Examination of regulated markets, MTFs and Systematic Internalises, OTFs. MiFID II and secondary regulation. The European financial sector supervision: technique of intervention and the competent Authorities. Financial disintermediation and new technologies in favour of the consumers: regulatory challenges and risks. ESG and sustainable development. FinTech and TechFin: new tools and new trends.
First Part: Introduction and regulatory evolution: hard law and soft law. The international and European sources of the financial regulation. The powers and activities of the vigilance Authorities. The architecture of financial supervision. The subjects (types of firms, organization and functions), the activity, the crisis.
Second Part: The investor protection. The banking governance. The execution of transactions in financial instruments.
Third Part: Markets regulation. MiFID II and recent EU directives. New developments. Sustainability of the banking and finance activities: ESG criteria and business sustainability.
Financial intermediation and innovation applied to finance: FinTech, TechFin and technologies applied to financial markets.
Reference Books
AA.VV., Manuale di diritto bancario e finanziario, edited by F. Capriglione, Wolters Kluwer, Cedam, 2023.
Further papers will be suggested.
Teaching Methods
Classroom teaching; Class exercise: case studies; lectures; papers; quiz; project work.
Assessment Method
The exam will be oral. During the exam the student must demonstrate knowledge of the principal arguments put forward during the course. The student will be able to analyze independently and with a critical spirit the discipline and the institutes covered by the course, correctly using the legal vocabulary of the subject, demonstrating to have acquired the study method and to deepen independently the subject. The student must demonstrate reasoning skills, applying institutions to practical cases explained by the teacher.
The evaluation of the exam will be based on:
Mid term test (30%): the mid term test will be written. The test will evaluate the understanding and autonomy of judgment. The intermediate test will cover the topics addressed up to a week before the mid term, it is not mandatory and the result obtained will be valid until the appeal in September. It may be composed of either a mix of open-ended questions or a certain number of multiple choice questions. The particular type of intermediate test that will be administered will be communicated to students on the university website one week before completion of the same.
Final exam (70%): The final exam will be oral and will be assessed as follows: or knowledge and understanding of the institutes and the principles of the subject and ability to apply to concrete cases (70%); or ability to use the technical-legal vocabulary, ability to consult and evaluate relevant sources and acquisition of the study method (30%).
Participation in class (1-2 bonus points): through these activities we intend to evaluate the ability to apply knowledge and autonomy of judgment.
Project work (1-2 bonus points): the student will have to analyze a legal fact and know how to apply the knowledge learned during the course.
Students who fail or achieve an insufficient mark in the mid-term exam will be assessed on the final oral exam and other activities.
The presence of training gaps on one or more institutes or principles will lead to an insufficient evaluation even in the presence of a basic knowledge of the subject.
Thesis assignment criteria
Motivational interview