Prerequisite: None

Exam Type: Last Class Take-home

Students enrolled in the course will be expected to prepare one short blog post on a topic of current interest. There will also be a take-home examination question distributed after the last class and designed to give students an opportunity to reflect upon some of the broad themes we will explore over the course of the semester.

This course is designed to introduce students to the regulation of financial institutions and financial markets in the United States. We will cover the law and public policy considerations applicable to a range of financial intermediaries, including insured depository institutions, such as banks and thrifts, as well as insurance companies, securities firms, and investment companies. While the course will review the history of financial regulation in the United States and touch upon international coordination and comparative approaches to financial regulation, we will focus our attention on the evolution over the last sixteen years of reforms implemented in the United States in the aftermath of the Global Financial Crisis of 2008.

In the Fall of 2024, the course will place additional special on the regulation of digital assets and innovations in payments system in the United States. We will also consider the implications of several recent and significant judicial decisions for the field. In addition to offering students a broad overview of financial regulation, the course is intended to assist students in learning how to conduct the kinds of legal research expected of lawyers working on financial matters either in private practice or for government agencies.

Readings will primarily be from Barr, Jackson & Tahyar, Financial Regulation: Law and Policy (Foundation Press 3rd ed. 2021) as well as selected draft chapters being prepared for the next edition of the casebook, which is scheduled for publication in 2025.

If scheduling permits, the course will meet for thirty-two, ninety minute sessions, with classes ending by Thanksgiving Break. The meeting dates will be posted on Canvas before the start of the semester.