| Unit name | International Corporate Finance |
|---|---|
| Unit code | LAWDM0116 |
| Credit points | 30 |
| Level of study | M/7 |
| Teaching block(s) |
Teaching Block 1 (weeks 1 - 12) |
| Unit director | Dr. Zaghloul |
| Open unit status | Not open |
| Units you must take before you take this one (pre-requisite units) |
None |
| Units you must take alongside this one (co-requisite units) |
None |
| Units you may not take alongside this one |
None |
| School/department | University of Bristol Law School |
| Faculty | Faculty of Social Sciences and Law |
Why is this unit important?
Financial decision making is important to every company, whether big or small, domestic or international. These decisions are not just based on corporate law but also involve an appreciation of other areas of law, and other disciplines such as economics and finance. Gaining a better understanding of how companies raise finance, manage risks, and structure their investment decisions is central to ensuring their long-term success. Understanding the regulatory frameworks governing and impacting a company’s financing activity is important to be able to better evaluate the effectiveness of policy reforms, facilitate access to finance, as well as encourage competitive markets. Recent emerging policy trends to re-orient corporate finance to support sustainability goals, or to harness capital markets for economic recovery purposes in the context of recent and ongoing economic crises will also be explored. This unit will explore topics from both a national and an international dimension.
How does this unit fit into your programme of study?
This unit enables students to critically engage with the increasingly complex regulatory landscape and explore sustainable paths to corporate finance, particularly as fintech and alternative methods of finance continue to disrupt traditional financing models. This knowledge can be applied to many different fields of study and complements learning across other programmes within the Law School.
An overview of content
This unit will explore the legal rules governing the procedures followed by companies when they want to raise funds to launch or expand their activities, as well as the mechanisms for the protection of investors and creditors that supply those funds. It will cover two major sources of corporate finance: a) equity financing, and b) debt financing, including contractual and bankruptcy rules. The unit not only covers traditional approaches to corporate finance, but also emerging practices in the context of Fintech, such as crowdfunding, including ICOs, and alternative banking services offered by challenger banks. Sustainable paths to corporate finance and regulation will also be explored.
How will students, personally, be different as a result of the unit?
Learning Outcomes
By the end of the unit, a successful student will be able to:
Teaching will be delivered through a combination of interactive lectures and seminars. The lecture sessions will not only include substantive material but also involve scenario-driven tasks that will help you apply your understanding to real-world scenarios as you learn. The seminars will include a combination of simulation and critical thinking questions designed to develop your ability to apply key concepts while appreciating broader challenges.
Tasks which help you learn and prepare you for summative tasks (formative):
There will be one formative submission consisting of two parts. The first part is a 1,000-word coursework submission. This will not count towards the final unit mark and will require students to write an essay on one of the topics of the syllabus. The purpose is to assess your subject-matter understanding, develop your independent research skills as well as your written communication skills. Detailed feedback will be provided to help you prepare for the summative assessment. The second part consists of a short interactive multiple choice questionnaire (MCQ) to assess your ability to apply some of the foundational concepts to practical scenarios.
MCQs to test your understanding and application of key concepts and theories will also be provided for each topic. Further formative feedback will be provided within the interactive lecture sessions, seminar discussions, office hours and through a discussion thread on Blackboard.
Tasks which count towards your unit mark (summative):
The summative task is a 4,000 word coursework which requires students to produce a critical review of a journal article . This assessment will constitute 100% of the grade for this unit and will cover all of the unit’s ILOs.
When assessment does not go to plan:
When a student fails the unit and is eligible to resubmit, the unit will be reassessed on a like-for-like basis with new assessment questions.
If this unit has a Resource List, you will normally find a link to it in the Blackboard area for the unit. Sometimes there will be a separate link for each weekly topic.
If you are unable to access a list through Blackboard, you can also find it via the Resource Lists homepage. Search for the list by the unit name or code (e.g. LAWDM0116).
How much time the unit requires
Each credit equates to 10 hours of total student input. For example a 20 credit unit will take you 200 hours
of study to complete. Your total learning time is made up of contact time, directed learning tasks,
independent learning and assessment activity.
See the University Workload statement relating to this unit for more information.
Assessment
The Board of Examiners will consider all cases where students have failed or not completed the assessments required for credit.
The Board considers each student's outcomes across all the units which contribute to each year's programme of study. For appropriate assessments, if you have self-certificated your absence, you will normally be required to complete it the next time it runs (for assessments at the end of TB1 and TB2 this is usually in the next re-assessment period).
The Board of Examiners will take into account any exceptional circumstances and operates
within the Regulations and Code of Practice for Taught Programmes.
