LL4F2      Half Unit
The Law and Practice of International Finance

This information is for the 2025/26 session.

Course Convenor

Availability

LL4F2 examines the legal dimensions to the international financial markets based in London. The principal focus is on financial contracts, transactions and structures which are widely used in the global markets, with a focus on ‘over the counter’ (OTC) derivatives and debt finance, in particular, syndicated loans.

The emphasis in this course is on private law, but throughout the term the discussion will be contextualised by reference to relevant legal, commercial and regulatory background. For example, we look in detail at contractual credit risk mitigation and default management processes including close-out, and we consider in-depth various types of disputes that arise from financial contracts, often relating to periods of widespread market stress. The course is based upon an analysis of the relevant issues in English law as it operates in the global financial markets, with some reference to other legal systems for comparative purposes. We also consider the consequences of parties in other jurisdictions entering into agreements which select English or New York law as the governing law of the contract. 

The course will be underpinned by in-depth discussion of the legal principles involved in international finance, but the case studies referenced will be topical. In this sense, the content of the course will be adapted to contemporary developments affecting international markets in capital and in risk (for example, recent sessions the course have examined mis-selling litigation brought in the English courts by Italian local authorities, the implications of Brexit for the clearing sector and CCP location policy, and the worldwide project of benchmark transition away from LIBOR to so-called ‘risk-free rates’).

20 hours of seminars in the Winter Term.
2 hours of seminars in the Spring Term.

This course has a reading week in Week 6 of Winter Term.

Two hours of teaching content each week in Winter Term (apart from Reading Week) and a two hour revision class in the Spring Term. There will be a Reading Week in Week 6 of Winter Term.

Students will be asked to submit one essay, which may be completed in exam conditions. The course also involves individual and group presentations and other classwork.

Examples of texts which will be referenced on the course are: J. Braithwaite, The Financial Courts: Adjudicating Disputes in Derivatives Markets (CUP, 2021); and L Gullifer and J Payne, Corporate Finance Law: Principles and Policy (Hart, 3rd edition, 2020). Readings assigned on this course will include English cases, legislation and regulatory reports as well as academic articles and books.

For an example of reading which is indicative of sources assigned on the course, please see Braithwaite, The Financial Courts, chapter 1 (this book is available as an e-book through the LSE Library).

A full reading list will be distributed via Moodle.

Exam (100%), duration: 150 Minutes in the Spring exam period