This practitioner-oriented Master’s degree provides students with a practical and theoretical foundation for successful careers in risk management, compliance, regulation and allied work streams within the financial services industry. Skills are developed through creating a broader understanding of financial firm risk-taking, accountability, governance.
The emphasis is on a deep analysis of mainstream and critical authorship. We will challenge current and past thinking on the role of financial institutions and markets. The programme particularly encourages students to examine regulatory structures and concepts in the context of recent and past financial crises.
Students will build the skills and knowledge needed to gain an understanding of financial reform processes and their consequences for markets around the world. Rigorous classroom teaching coupled with extensive reading provides students with a sound theoretical basis. An understanding of substantive legal issues is also developed.
Contributions by industry and regulatory experts introduces students to the nuances of real world application of theoretical constructs. Practical case studies, current legal positions and interactive student discussions or presentations are used in most lectures. In addition legal, academic, practitioner and regulatory input is gained through specialist guest lectures and visits as per the ability of the year-group.
Some key topics taught within this degree include:
October – December: Part 1 Autumn Term
January: Part 1 Exams
January-April: Part 2 Spring Term
May – June: Part 2 Exams
June – August (12 month programme only): Part 3
August/Sep (12 month programme only): Part 3 Coursework deadlines
Part 1 compulsory modules
Part 2 compulsory modules
Part 3 optional modules
Students on the 12-months programme should choose one from the following:
Full-time: 9 months Full-time: 12 months
Students will be resident and undertake full-time study in the UK. Under both, the 9 and 12-month programmes students take compulsory and/or elective modules in Part 2.
The 12 month option involves taking an elective 20 credit module between July and August, which would also mean a 20 credit reduction in the number of taught modules taken in the spring term.
The financial services sector has an ever-expanding need for graduates trained in the fundamentals of compliance, governance and regulation. This increasing demand has been fuelled by implementation of a number and rules and laws, including the EU Market Abuse Directive, Markets in Financial Instruments (MiFID), global standards such as Basel II, and the FSA and US regulators’ focus on principles-based regulation, all of which require significant in-house compliance resources.
With recent explosive growth in capital markets such as China,India, the Middle East and Eastern Europe, combined with the increasing complexity of financial products and a growing sophistication on the part of investors and market participants, there are immense challenges facing institutions, compliance professionals within them and regulators.
Our graduates are in a very strong position to build successful careers in the compliance or legal divisions of investment banks, fund managers and hedge funds, retail banking institutions and other market participants.
Find out more about graduate destinations and career opportunities on our Henley Careers page
CISI Diploma
The ICMA Centre is a Chartered Institute of Securities and Investment (CISI) Centre of Excellence. Centres of Excellence are a select group of UK universities, recognised by the CISI as offering leadership in academic education on financial markets. Students who are on a financially-related masters course recognised by the CISI are eligible for exemptions and membership.
ICMA Centre students who register and successfully complete two CISI Diploma in Capital Markets modules (Securities and Bonds & Fixed Interest Markets) are eligible for an exemption from the third module (Financial Markets).
ICMA Fixed Income Certificate
To obtain the requisite knowledge to pass the rigorous FIC exam, students are required to take the ICMA Centre Fixed Income Cash and Derivatives Markets module at Part 2. In order to receive the FIC certificate, students will need to register and pass the FIC exam through ICMA.
The MSc Regulation is based in the Department of Law and the Department of Government and offers you the chance to study regulation within a systematic framework.
Regulatory growth and reform has been an international 'policy boom' in recent years. Governments have increasingly used regulation in preference to other policy instruments. Transnational regulation – often involving a diversity of non-state actors – has become a defining feature of the international economy. Regulation therefore plays a central role in the contemporary understanding of law and public policy. As a field of study, regulation requires a multidisciplinary approach. Legal, political and economic issues are intertwined and each has to be understood to make sense of the overall process.
The programme takes a distinctive multidisciplinary approach, which concentrates on institutional issues and behaviour in regulation – regulatory bureaucracies, interest groups, legislators and courts – in addition to the economic aspects of regulation. We aim to bring together the contrasting North American and European perspectives on regulation, and to juxtapose experience of regulatory practice with theoretical ideas about how regulation works.
Graduates from the MSc Regulation have gone on to successful careers in politics and government, regulatory bodies, international organisations, law, finance and other regulated services, the media, non-governmental organisations and academia.
Further information on graduate destinations for this programme
Acquire an advanced understanding of the interaction between theory and practice as well as the qualifications necessary for solid placement in the field.
As competition policy becomes increasingly relevant in both the public and private sectors, there is a great need for professionals prepared to address market regulation issues. The highly practical focus of the Competition and Market Regulation Program ensures that graduates have both an advanced understanding of the interaction between theory and practice as well as the qualifications necessary for solid placement in the field.
The Barcelona GSE Competition and Market Regulation Program presents students with a learning progression, starting from the basic necessary conceptual frameworks and economic tools, and then introducing core issues in Competition Policy and Market Regulation with the help of leading specialists in each field.
Students will have a wealth of opportunities to complement their coursework with conferences and seminars in various fields of specialization. Chief among these is the Regulation and Competition Seminar Series, organized by the Universitat Pompeu Fabra (UPF) Department of Economics and Business, the Comisión del Mercado de las Telecomunicaciones (CMT), and the Barcelona GSE. Seminars feature academics, regulators, and practitioners at the forefront of their fields discussing specific issues and presenting original research. In addition to providing a range of regulatory issue perspectives, seminars also give students the opportunity to network with top professionals in the industry.
Teaching faculty include many industry experts teaching in the current edition of the program, as well as Massimo Motta, who has returned from his stint as Chief Competition Economist at the European Commission. Professor Motta has been involved with the master program since its foundation and brings many years of experience both in the classroom and in the practice of competition policy.
Upon successful completion of the program, students will receive a Master Degree in Specialized Economic Analysis awarded jointly with the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona and the Universitat Pompeu Fabra. The degree requires the successful completion of 60 ECTS (European Credit Transfer System) credits of graduate courses (6 credits are equivalent to a 40 hour course), some compulsory and some elective. The students' final program must be discussed with and approved by the Master Director.
Examples of recent professional placements:
The Specialism in International Energy Law and Regulation will appeal to students at all stages of their career and from around the world who have an interest in the energy sector from a global perspective. It will enable you with this focus to develop your career in private commercial practice or in-house in the oil and gas sector. You will be well-prepared to embark on policy-oriented careers for government of the private sector.
The International Energy Law and Regulation Specialist LLM is one of very few LLMs in the UK and elsewhere which provide you with an in-depth study of energy law and regulation.
This challenging masters degree emphasises the role of law in ensuring a sustainable use and trade in energy resources. It affords you the opportunity to study the subject in context - that means, you will explore the subject from the lenses of competition law, business regulation, and public international law.
The Specialist masters a public-private law approach to energy. You will be given an opportunity to examine how public law regulates the use and trade in energy and to evaluate how private commercial parties could trade in energy resource.
The programme emphasises the role of law in ensuring a sustainable use and trade in energy resources. It affords you the opportunity to study the subject in context – exploring the subject from the lenses of competition law, business regulation, and public international law.
Each year a small number of internships become available and you will be provided with information about such opportunities and how to apply during the year of your study.
As a City Law School student you will benefit from everything the institution has to offer including the Learning Success department and Lawbore, an online resource designed to help you find the information you need for the course modules. All course modules have online depositories through Moodle.
As part of the University of London you can also become a member of Senate House Library for free with your student ID card.
You will benefit from City, University of London’s extensive library of hard copy and electronic resources, including its comprehensive database of domestic and international caselaw, legislation, treaties and legal periodicals. There are two law-specific libraries – one at the Gray’s Inn campus and one at our Northampton square campus - with individual study spaces and dedicated rooms for group work.
Additionally, we are a short walk away from the British Library and the Law Library of the Institute of Advanced Legal Studies.
This course is taught by leading academics as well as visiting practitioners including barristers and solicitors who work in private practice and in legal departments of major companies.
All modules are structured as ten weekly two-hour seminars which comprise both lectures as well as interactive tutorials. All modules are supported by our online learning platform - Moodle. Assessment is by way of coursework which comprises 100% of the final mark in each module. Each module carries the same weight in terms of the overall qualification.
You will be allocated a dedicated supervisor for your dissertation who will help you develop a specific topic and provide support in terms of resources, content and structure.
As with all LLM specialisms at City, University of London, you may take either five modules and a shorter dissertation (10,000 words) or four modules and a longer dissertation (20,000 words).
All modules are of the same duration and are taught per term (September – December or January – April) rather than the whole academic year.
If you take four modules you will take two per term in each term and if you take five modules you will have three in one term and two in the other. Dissertations are written during the summer term when there are no classes.
In order to obtain this specialism, you must choose at least three modules from within this specialism and write your dissertation on a subject within the specialism.
Specialism modules
Choose from the following 30-credit modules:
For your remaining modules you can choose from more than 50 modules covering a diverse range of subjects.
As a graduate of the specialist International Energy Law and Regulation LLM you will be well placed to pursue careers in this area of law in private practice, in-house in a law firm, policy and government, non-governmental organisations and a wide range of non-legal careers in the energy sector.
The City Law School has a vibrant Pro Bono programme including our award-winning commercial law clinic for tech start-ups Start-Ed.
The competition and regulation Masters offers a unique opportunity in Germany to specialise in competition and regulation law. Students build up extensive legal and economic expertise over the course of three semesters. There is a strong focus on practice with a range of practitioners involved in the programme.
The Masters programme, which is taught entirely in English, is a 18 months distance-learning programme with 3 classroom sessions for about 2 weeks each in Lüneburg. Students will be supported by an online tutor who will answer academic questions, support the students during the learning process and will try to stimulate and moderate online discussions.
In nine modules, students learn how law and economics interact. The LL.M. has a strong focus on research as well as on practice. Practitioners from major law firms and representatives of competition and regulatory authorities share their knowledge so that students get a first-hand insight into both sides of work in competition and regulation law.
Learn more about the modules in the Masters programme Competition and Regulation
The programme is directed at university graduates holding a first university degree with one year of qualified professional and advanced English language skills.
Learn more about the admission requirements
The programme is designed to enable you to gain a deeper understanding of the tools available for environmental policy and regulation, and the diverse contexts within which they operate, and evaluate the impact of policies for the economy, society and the natural environment.
The need for greater environmental protection is becoming increasingly acknowledged in both the public and private sectors. There is also a need to explore how broad concerns lead to specific policies or plans, and what factors shape the performance of different regulatory instruments on the ground.
The MSc Environmental Policy and Regulation analyses the nature and efficacy of different approaches to environmental policy and regulation. It considers the influence of different forms of environmental policy and regulation at the international, national and local levels and the role of environmental evaluation techniques. Issues are addressed within a distinctive social science framework that uses theory to understand practice, thereby equipping you with the skills you need to work on environmental policy and regulation in the public, private or NGO sectors.
You will have the skills to enter a wide variety of employment opportunities in the public sector, non-governmental organisations (NGOs), international organisations, research, consultancy and national/multinational firms.
Further information on graduate destinations for this programme
Our distance learning Procurement Regulation Postgraduate Diploma/MA has been specifically designed for professionals wishing to expand their knowledge and understanding of EU procurement law and regulation, while also placing that system within its wider international context. The programme is particularly suitable for lawyers in private practice or in the public sector, in house legal advisers and officials dealing with practice or policy in the procurement field as procurement specialists who wish to add further legal experience to their practical experience.
Our Public Procurement Regulation PG Diploma is structured into three modules of 12 units. Each unit comes in the form of hard copy print and as a pdf file via the programme website. The units are designed to be largely self-contained, but recommended and further reading will be suggested. A unit will comprise text, copies of relevant Regulations, Commission Decisions and Notices, Judgments of the General Court and the Court of Justice of the European Union, practical examples, questions and model answers to test your knowledge as you progress.
On the programme website you can view and listen to seminar recordings and access further learning resources to support you in your studies. This website also offers students the opportunity to interact with each other and to post questions for the module leader.
The MA in Public Procurement Regulation in the EU and in its Global Context is only open to students who have successfully completed the Public Procurement Regulation Postgraduate Diploma.
This is a distance learning course taught via course-specific printed matter which is despatched from October to March at fortnightly intervals. The PgDip also features two intensive residential weekend seminars (equivalent to 32 hours of contact time) at which programme leaders will lecture and organise group work where appropriate. You are expected to engage in 220 hours of self-study and will be assessed through a combination of coursework and examinations; 70 per cent of the course is assessed by examination and 30 per cent is assessed by coursework.
The follow-up MA is open to students who complete the Diploma. It involves the research for and writing of a 12000 -15000 dissertation under supervision. You are expected to spend at least 110 hours engaged in self-directed study. You are assessed exclusively by marking of your dissertation.
Completing this rigorous programme will you give you a competitive edge in the job market. With its practical approach you can apply your expertise immediately to your work environment. You will also have opportunities to network with professionals in your area from all over the world. Programme graduates are mostly professionals who enjoy specialisation and promotion in their existing workplace or new employment destinations. Graduates from this programme typically work for
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