LL4FH      Half Unit
European Capital Markets Law

This information is for the 2025/26 session.

Course Convenor

Availability

The course examines the EU's regulation of the capital markets. It considers the harmonized regulatory regime which applies to capital market actors across the Member States and which supports the integrated market. The topics which may be covered include: the rationale for integration and the role of law and the evolution of the integration project, including the impact of the financial crisis, Capital Market Union, and the UK’s withdrawal from the EU; the deregulation, liberalization, harmonization, and re-regulation mechanisms used to integrate and regulate the EU market; market access and the passport for investment services; the liberalisation of order execution and the regulation of trading markets; retail investor protection; the prospectus and disclosure regime;;  and the institutional structure supporting regulation and supervision, including the role of the European Securities and Markets Authority. Course coverage may vary slightly from year to year.

20 hours of seminars in the Winter Term.

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

A mandatory in-class formative assessment (in the form of a timed exam question) will be held in Week 6.

Reading lists will be provided in advance for each seminar and will include chapters from books, articles, and relevant legislative and policy materials. Sample texts include: Moloney, EU Securities and Financial Markets Regulation, 4th edition (2023) and Veil (ed), European Capital Markets Law, 3rd edition (2022).
Preliminary reading

Moloney, EU Securities and Financial Markets Regulation (2023), chapter 1

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