LL206: International Financial Regulation in the Digital Era

This course provides detailed insights into contemporary financial regulation, reflecting the increasing digitisation and structural changes of the wholesale and retail financial sectors.

The evolving landscape of financial services, now increasingly digital and intertwined with offerings from non-traditional players like tech giants, leverages breakthrough technologies such as AI, Cloud Computing, Big Data, and Blockchain/DLT. While these advancements redefine the market dynamics, the core functions and regulatory principles of financial products and services remain fundamentally unaltered.

This course offers a dynamic exploration of the current and emerging regulatory frameworks guiding Digital Finance or FinTech. It closely examines how laws and regulations across key markets, including the UK, EU, and US, are adapting, striving for a balance between fostering innovation and mitigating risks.

With a global perspective, the course draws extensively from standards established by international committees (FSB, Basel, CPMI, etc.) and the regulatory practices in the UK and EU. Comparative insights into other significant jurisdictions, such as the PRC and USA, are also provided, without delving into the minutiae of any one region.

This interactive and practice-oriented course is designed to equip participants with a comprehensive understanding of the regulatory environment shaping the future of digital finance.

Prerequisites: An introductory law course. No specific knowledge of financial markets or technology is required. Students from other disciplines will need to familiarise themselves with a number of fundamental concepts, such as regulation, property, contract and insolvency, during the course.

Level: 200 level. Read more information on levels in our FAQs

Fees: Please see Fees and payments

Lectures: 36 hours

Classes: 18 hours

Assessment: One examination and one essay

Typical credit: 3-4 credits (US) 7.5 ECTS points (EU)

Please note: Assessment is optional but may be required for credit by your home institution. Your home institution will be able to advise how you can meet their credit requirements. For more information on exams and credit, read Teaching and assessment

This course is designed to be of both high academic and direct practical value. It appeals to current Bachelor and Master students interested in the area or preparing for a career in this field, as well as to practitioners wishing to broaden their horizon.

It will be of particular interest to:

• The private financial sector (compliance, legal, governmental and international affairs, etc.)
• Legal practices specialising in finance
• Government and governmental agencies (policymakers from treasuries, ministries of economy/finance/justice, etc.)
• Central banks (legal, regulation and oversight, international affairs, etc.)
• International organisations and EU institutions and agencies (policymakers, legal, international affairs, etc.)
• Non-governmental organisations and advocacy groups active in the field of international financial markets

The course shall enable students to understand, put into context and use the main techniques of financial regulation and commercial law in the context of digitisation of the financial world, without the necessity to cut through the thicket of very technical provisions.

The learning outcomes of this course are, accordingly, to be able to;

• Appreciate the theoretical foundations of financial regulation and commercial law of a digitized market
• Identify concrete regulatory issues that are currently forming and may become relevant in the future
• Describe relevant international and important national policy initiatives
• Map relevant areas of policymaking
• Critically assess the need for new ways societies respond to novel regulatory exigences

The design of this course is guided by LSE faculty, as well as industry experts, who will share their experience and in-depth knowledge with you throughout the course.