BU Law Welcomes First Financial Services Fundamentals Cohort

The three-week course prepares students who need a stronger background in the banking and finance law of the United States.

In August, Boston University School of Law’s LLM program in Banking and Financial Law (BFL) welcomed the first students into its inaugural three-week Financial Services Fundamentals class. The non-credit, pre-LLM course was designed to give a solid foundation of financial services literacy to students with little or no academic or professional experience in this specialized field.

The course ran from August 10 to 25. Each of the class’s eight modules was taught by a different instructor drawn from the pool of experienced financial service professionals in Boston, a major hub of financial service institutions. The modules covered key aspects of financial law, including, for example, the governing statutes and regulations, regulatory and oversight processes, and a rundown of the 2008–2009 financial crisis.

The course was open to all BFL students and to students from BU Law’s other LLM programs.  BFL students with little prior exposure to the financial services industry were strongly encouraged to attend. It was a particularly helpful way for international students to develop their legal English vocabulary in the financial services arena.

“Many students enter the BFL with several years of financial services industry experience, either in the US or internationally. However, each year we receive a number of applications from otherwise qualified candidates who lack such exposure to the industry,” says James E. Scott, director of the Graduate Program in Banking & Financial Law. “With this course, we can offer these students the opportunity to learn the fundamentals of financial services law and thus provide a pathway to the BFL degree.”

While the students of the first Financial Services Fundamentals class came from a variety of backgrounds, once the program was underway, they had at least one thing in common: a positive reaction to the class.

“I am enjoying the course so far,” said Begoña Aranguren Idigoras, a recent law and business graduate from the University of Deusto in Spain, who aspires to work for a bank after graduation. “I feel more prepared, especially in the American regulatory part and in accounting.”

Edson Laice works for the Central Bank of Mozambique. “I am learning many new things,” Laice said. He appreciated the quick and early exposure to the topics, “because I will be seeing them more in-depth once the program begins.”

The pass-fail course concluded with a 90-minute objective exam.

Boston University School of Law was the first school in the country to create an LLM program in Banking and Financial Law, graduating its first students in 1984. The program is still the only financial services LLM in the United States with its own faculty and specifically created graduate curriculum. The program offers concentrations in the business of banking, compliance management, financial services transactions, lending and credit transactions, and securities transactions. Alumni of BU’s Banking and Financial Law LLM program work in leadership positions in banks, financial service companies, government ministries, regulatory agencies, law firms, companies, non-profit organizations, and other enterprises throughout the world.

Reported by Trevor Persaud (STH’18).