LL.M. Concentration - International Finance

The subject of international finance is increasingly important to lawyers given the growing globalization of financial markets. The sequence of courses will give students the background they need for a specialized practice or policy making role in the field. The Concentration will be organized around a year-long 2-credit seminar in International Finance, taught by Professor Hal S. Scott, the Director of the Concentration. The course sequence and seminar will link students who share a common interest.  

Supporting participants in the concentration will be the Program on International Financial Systems (PIFS), directed by Prof. Scott. PIFS conducts the highest quality international research, provides an international forum for exchange of ideas, gives public policy advice to governments, and educates international lawyers. Some opportunities to work as research assistants with PIFS may be available to students in the concentration. For more information on PIFS, please see below:

PIFS Description (pdf)

A description of the concentration seminar (course number 95810) can be found in the Preliminary Registration Bulletin (the Bulletin), available online at: http://www.law.harvard.edu/academics/courses/2008-09/?id=5368 The 2-credit seminar requires a paper. Students choosing to write a Long (75-100 pp.) LL.M. Paper in conjunction with the Seminar will receive a total of 4 credits: 2 for the seminar and 2 for the LL.M. Paper. Many of these papers have been published and have made major contributions to the field.

Prominent speakers give guest lectures at the Seminar. Previous speakers include: Sir Callum McCarthy, Chairman of the U.K.’s Financial Services Authority and William Donaldson, former Chairman of the SEC. In the coming year, we expect the speakers to include Kevin Warsh, Governor, Federal Reserve Board and Barney Frank, Congressman, U.S. House of Representatives.

In addition to the International Finance seminar, students participating in the Concentration must also complete the following course of study during the year

• Securities Regulation (Fall or Spring) (Prof. Scott or Prof. Jackson) (3 credits)
• Regulation of Financial Institutions (Fall) (Prof. Jackson) (3 credits)
• International Finance (Spring) (Prof. Scott) (3 credits)

We recommend that students take one more course at the Law School, or possibly elsewhere at Harvard, that is financial or related to finance. We consider many second and third year courses at the Law School to be appropriate. These include corporate finance, commercial law, bankruptcy/reorganization, trade law, certain tax courses, some law and economics courses, courses on financial regulation, and comparable courses elsewhere at the University. Students are encouraged to take at least one course outside the finance area. Participation in the Concentration will satisfy the "primary" course requirement for international students. Students also should ensure that they satisfy all other requirements for the LL.M. degree.

Admission to the seminar and the Concentration will be granted only with the permission of Profs. Jackson and Scott. If you are interested in pursuing this Concentration, you are encouraged to complete and return the attached Application Form to the Graduate Program office by the last week of July 2008. The Application Form requires you to provide to the Concentration directors a copy of your application to the LL.M. Program. Since admittance to the Concentration is not guaranteed, you must also complete and return a normal Course Selection Form, if you have not done so already. A briefing about the Concentration will take place early in the week of August 28, 2008. Applications will be accepted up until August 31, 2008. Decisions as to admission to the Concentration will be announced Monday, September 1, 2008.

International Finance Concentration Application Form (pdf)

PROGRAM ON INTERNATIONAL FINANCIAL SYSTEMS 

Established by the Program on International Financial Systems at Harvard Law School. The prize, awarded annually, provides $2,500 for the best paper written in that particular academic year in the Seminar on International Finance.

Select Papers from the Seminar in International Finance

IF-LL.M. Concentration Students

Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton Guest Lecture Series of the International Finance Seminar

Upcoming seminar speakers for the 2007-08 academic year include:

10/06/08          Adam Ashcraft             Research Officer, Financial Inter mediation Function, Federal Reserve Bank
                                                                   of New York

10/13/08          Kathleen O’Day           Deputy General Counsel

                                                                  Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System

11/3/08             Robert Herz                 Chairman, Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB)

11/10/08           Kevin Warsh               Governor, Federal Reserve Board

11/17/08           Ethiopas Tafara         Director of the Office of International Affairs, U.S. Securities & Exchange
                                                                  Commission

11/24/08          Barney Frank               Congressman , U.S. House of Representatives

12/01/08          Clara Furse                  Chief Executive, London Stock Exchange

04/06/09         Jörgen Holmquist        Director General of DG Internal Market and Services, European
                                                                  Commission

Past speakers* include:

David Aufhauser             (General Counsel, US Department of the Treasury) on financing terrorism

G.N. Bajpai                        (Chairman Emeritus, Securities and Exchange Board of India) on legislative changes in
                                            India and resurgence of the financial markets

Frits Bolkestein               (Commissioner, Internal Market, Taxation and Customs Union, European Union)

Lee C. Buchheit               (Senior Partner, Cleary, Gottlieb, Steen and Hamilton) on issues concerning sovereign
                                            debt default

Charles Calomiris           (Henry Kaufman Professor of Financial Institutions, Columbia Business School and
                                            Co-director of AEI's Financial Deregulation Project) on regulation of bank capital

Gerard Caprio                  (Director, Financial Strategy and Policy Group, The World Bank) on the implementation
                                            of international standards

Marshall N. Carter           Chairman of the NYSE

Roberto Dañino                (Senior Vice President and General Counsel, The World Bank Group) on The World Bank:
                                             A Lawyer's Perspective

Howard Davies                (Chairman, Financial Services Authority) on the FSA’s consolidated approach to regulation

William Donaldson          (Former Chairman, U.S. Securities & Exchange Commission) on an SEC challenge:  
                                             to provide quality oversight and investor protection in an increasingly competitive global
                                             environment

Jerry Hawke                     (Comptroller of the Currency) on the future of Basel II

John G. Heimann             (Chairman, Financial Stability Institute of the Bank for International Settlements,  
                                             formerly, Chairman, Global Financial Institutions Group,
                                             Merrill Lynch and U.S. Comptroller of the Currency) on the role of the Institute

Michael Helfer                 (General Counsel, Citigroup) on international implications of the PATRIOT Act

Daryll Hendricks             (Senior Vice President, Federal Reserve Bank of New York) on the Basel Committee’s
                                            effort to formulate new capital adequacy standards

Stefan Ingves                  (Director, Monetary and Exchange Affairs Department, IMF) on how the IMF monitors
                                            compliance with the international standards, as part of the International Financial
                                            Architecture efforts of the G-10 and G-22 countries

George Kaufman            (John F. Smith, Jr. Professor of Finance and Economics, Loyola University Chicago) on
                                            systemic risk

Edward Kwalwasser     (Group Executive Vice President, Regulation, NYSE) on securities market fragmentation

Christian Leuz                 (Harold Stott Term Assistant Professor of Accounting, The Wharton School) on Cross
                                            Listings and SEC Deregistrations

Joseph Markoski            (Partner, Squire, Sanders & Dempsey) on prospects for commercial law reform in Iraq

Sir Callum McCarthy       (Chairman & Acting Chief Executive, The Financial Services Authority of the UK) on how
                                              should international financial services firms be regulated?

Tony Neoh                           Barrister-at-Law, Anthony Neoh, SC

Chip Poncey                       Director of Strategic Policy at the Office of Terrorist Financing and Financial Crime

Randal Quarles                 Under Secretary for Domestic Finance

Alexander Schaub           (Director-General, Internal Market DG, European Commission) on financial Services in the
                                              global context: a new challenge for regulators and supervisors

Takumi Shibata                (Senior Managing Director, Nomura Holdings, Inc.; President & CEO, Nomura Asset
                                              Management Co., Ltd.) on improving capital markets on the other side of the Pacific:
                                              what regulatory and structural changes should they pursue?

Yasuhisa Shiozaki           Senior Vice Minister for Foreign Affairs of Japan

Lawrence Summers      (President of Harvard and former Secretary of the Treasury)

Georges Ugeux                (Former Group Executive Vice President, International, NYSE) on current issues regarding
                                              international securities

Hiroshi Watanabe            Vice Minister of Finance for International Affairs of Japan(former)

Virginia Wise                     (Lecturer on Law for Legal Research, Harvard Law School)

Philip Wood                        (Senior Partner, Allen & Overy and Visiting Professor, Faculty of Laws, Queen Mary and Westfield College) on global financial law: U.S. vs. Europe vs. China

Luigi Zingales                     Robert C. McCormack Professor of Entrepreneurship and Finance, University of Chicago Graduate School of Business

                
                *Titles represent the position held at the time of the seminar lecture.