Course requirements
Master degree in Law. This course is part of the Advanced Master Law and Finance.
More information: https://www.universiteitleiden.nl/en/education/study-programmes/master/law-and-finance
Course information
Reliable and efficient capital markets form the cornerstone of modern economies worldwide. They allow for a safe and efficient allocation of capital, risk and yield. The EU capital market is highly regulated to ensure a safe and efficient environment in which retail and institutional investors provide debt and equity capital to corporations and other institutions with a need for public finance. Investors, issuers of financial instruments, brokers and other intermediaries, markets and clearing and settlement platforms each play an important role in the proper operation of these markets and bear corresponding responsibilities. In this course, we focus on the rules that aim to protect investors on the capital markets.
The course starts with the obligations of issuers who seek financing on the capital markets. Topics include the initial public offering process and disclosure requirements for securities offerings and public companies. We will then discuss alternative methods for companies to obtain finance on the public markets, such as crowdfunding, special purpose acquisition companies (SPACs), and venture capital. Secondly, the course will focus on the proper functioning of the markets. We will cover the rules to ensure fair markets by preventing market abuse and will explain the clearing, custody and settlement of securities transactions. In the final week, we will also discuss crypto-assets and their impact on capital market transactions. .
The course is intimately linked with the other courses in the curriculum, in particular the courses EU Financial Law and Banking and Finance Transactions.
Course learning objectives
The following achievemen levels apply with regard to the course:
Students are able to advise a company on seeing finance on the public markets and the disclosure requirements that apply to public companies;
Students are able to apply the EU market abuse regulations to a concrete case;
Students are able to explain the clearing and settlement process for securities and are able to describe and explain the relevant elements for safeguarding client assets;
Students are able to discuss the role of crypto-assets on the capital markets and are able to judge such deverlopments on their merits.
Mode of instruction
Lectures and seminars will be held in a weekly schedule in a classroom setting with mandatory class attendance. Only when required by government regulation or decided by the Programme Board, teaching will be conducted in an online setting.
Lectures & seminars
Number of (2 hour) lectures & seminars: 10
Names of lecturers: Prof. Dr. Pim (W.A.K.) Rank, Dr. Zeeshan Mansoor LLM, guest lecturer.
Required preparations by students: reading of prescribed materials, preparation of case studies and any other assignments.
Course Load
Week 1 – Primary Market Transactions
Week 2 – Capital Markets Regulation: Crowd Funding, SPACs and venture capital
Week 3 – Market abuse
Week 4 – Clearing, settlement and custody
Week 5 – Crypto-assets
Examination method
Oral presentation: 30%
Final exam: 70%
The final grade for the course will be the weighted average of the oral presentation and final exam.
Oral presentation:
Students are required to deliver a 10-minute presentation on an assigned topic which is part of the relevant subject discussed during the course. The oral presentation cannot be retaken.
Final exam:
The final exam will cover all the material delivered during the lectures and the seminars. It will be a written or a take-home exam.
Further information about the oral presentation and the take-home exam will be communicated to students through Brightspace at the start of the course.
Brightspace
Course reader and additional literature is distributed through Brightspace.
Course materials
M. Haentjens & P. de Gioia-Carabellese, European Banking and Financial Law, 2nd edn, London: Routledge 2020.
J. Armour, D. Awrey, P. Davies, L. Enriques, J.N. Gordon, C. Mayer, and J. Payne, Principles of Financial Regulation, Oxford: Oxford University Press 2016
As well as articles and papers specifically assigned per week as set out in the course reader.
Course reader is available to be downloaded from Brightspace.
Contact
Course Coordinator:
Ilya Kokorin LLM
Email: i.kokorin@law.leidenuniv.nl
Programme Coordinator:
Ms. Orsolya Kalsbeek-Bagdi
Email address: lawandfinance@law.leidenuniv.nl
Disclaimer: Currently these pages are being updated to reflect the courses for 2022 - 2023. Until these pages are fixed as per 1 September 2022 no rights can be claimed from the information which is currently contained within.
Should there be any future changes of the Covid 19 virus which may impinge our teaching and assessment, these could necessitate modification of the course descriptions after 1 September. This will only happen in the event of strict necessity and the interests of the students will be taken into account. Should there be a need for any change during the course, this will be informed to all students on a timely basis. Modifications after 1 September 2022 may only be done with the approval and consent of the Faculty Board and Programme Director.