Finance and Financial Law (MSc and Postgraduate Diploma)
Is this programme for me?
There are rapid and wide-ranging changes in financial markets around the world, and in the legal and regulatory environment in which they operate. This creates a demand for people with expertise in both finance and financial law.
The MSc in Finance and Financial Law takes an integrated approach to these two aspects by including risk management, regulation, mergers and acquisitions, initial public offerings, bond issues, and loans. It relates to both national and international finance and will introduce you to how financial and legal principles are applied in practice as well as in theory. The Postgraduate Diploma in Finance and Financial Law is ideal for those who already have some experience in either law or finance. The ability to weight the choice of courses towards law or finance will mean that you can tailor your learning according to your needs, interests and pre-existing expertise.
Programme aims
Expertise in financial services is often polarised. Professionals either have knowledge of how financial services businesses operate or of the law relating to them. This MSc/Postgraduate Diploma creates a new kind of financial services professional: graduates who are trained in both finance and law.
Programme summary
| You study | Study period | Cost (2011-2012) | |
| MSc | 8 courses | 2-5 years | £9,840 |
| Postgraduate Diploma | 4 courses | 1-5 years | £4,920 |
| Individual Professional Courses | You can take up to three individual courses from this distance learning programme. Each course lasts eight weeks and you are registered for two years. The fee per course is £1,230. | ||
Prestige
The programme has been developed by academics at the Centre for Financial and Management Studies (CeFiMS), a postgraduate research and teaching department within SOAS, University of London. Staff at CeFiMS have international reputations and are involved in researching their subjects at the very limits of current knowledge.
Career progression
Graduates of this programme find that their specialist knowledge is in demand by international banks and investment firms, legal practices, regulatory institutions and the academic world.
Comprehensive study materials and support
You will be given all of the learning materials that you need to complete each course. These will typically include:
- The Study Guide, a core text specially written for the course. This takes the form of a looseleaf binder containing eight ‘course units’. The units are carefully structured to provide the main teaching of the course, defining and exploring the main concepts and issues, locating these within current debate and introducing and linking the further assigned readings.
- Textbooks and collections of key journal articles and book extracts.
- Online and multimedia tools. You will have access to the Online Study Centre (OSC), which is a web-accessed learning environment. Via the OSC, you can communicate with your assigned academic tutor, administrators and other students on the course using discussion forums. The OSC also provides access to the course Study Guide and assignments, as well as a selection of electronic journals available on the University of London Online Library. In addition, some courses materials will also include video lectures on DVD, CDs of case studies, and econometric software.
- A Welcome Pack is available online, which provides you with resources and tips on effective distance learning. We will also send you a Study Skills textbook to help you manage your studies.
Your time commitment
This will depend partly on choices you make, but most students take three years to complete the MSc. The study calendar consists of five sessions per year. Each session is devoted to a specific course and lasts eight weeks (with the exception of the first session which runs for 10 weeks). During each session you will need to allocate between 15-20 hours per week to complete the programme.
Summary of key dates
| Application deadline | 5 September 2011 | 21 November 2011 | 2 April 2012 |
| Programme starts | November 2011 | January 2012 | June 2012 |
| Examinations | October |
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