Program Overview

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Law and Finance M1KK09

Overview

The MSc in Law and Finance is an interdisciplinary program taught jointly by the Law School and the Business School. It explores the legal, regulatory, and economic aspects of banking and capital markets, providing students with a comprehensive understanding of the financial industry.

Start Dates

• September 2025

Degree Type

• MSc

Course Length

• 1 year full-time

Location

• Durham City

Programme Code

• M1KK09

Course Details

The MSc in Law and Finance combines two highly technical and evolving sectors into one distinctive study program. Ideally suited to aspiring financial lawyers or regulatory compliance professionals with a limited background in mathematics and statistics, the course provides an understanding of the fundamental legal and financial concepts needed to work in the modern financial industry.

The interdisciplinary course is taught jointly by the Law School and the Department of Finance. Starting out with an intensive induction, students will learn the basics of statistics and mathematics and the fundamentals of UK law.

Following the induction, the course takes in key concepts from across the legal financial landscape, including:

• Banking Regulation
• Capital Markets Law
• Corporate Finance
• Fundamentals of Finance

Academic theory is brought to life through the Case Study in Financial Regulation, an innovative module that transports current national and international issues from the financial law/regulation or policy world into the classroom. Much of the case study content is delivered in conjunction with industry professionals from the banking, capital markets, and legal sectors, to strengthen the bridge between academic theory and practical industry application.

Students will extend their real-world knowledge during a two-day London tour, which takes in regulators, financial institutions, and law firms. Added to this, the university's database resources, including Bloomberg, Capital IQ, Thomson Reuters, DataStream, and Orbis, will develop practical skills. The dissertation draws together the knowledge and skills gained through the course.

By the end of the course, students will be fluent in not only the regulatory aspects that govern the world of finance but also the core financial theory that underpins capital market and banking transactions and the financing of businesses more generally.

Course Structure

Year 1 Modules

Core Modules:

• Financial Regulation: introduces the structure and functioning of the financial system, including banks, investment firms, payment firms, investors, consumers, and regulators.
• Capital Markets Law: introduces the structure and functioning of capital markets, including actors, regulators, infrastructures, core products, services, and instruments offered in capital markets.
• Fundamentals of Finance: provides a rigorous grounding in the theory of modern finance and examines the most important current research in finance, with an emphasis on applying theoretical principles to the practice of financial management.
• Corporate Finance (MSc Finance): explores the theory and practice of corporate finance at an advanced level and provides a thorough examination of key areas of research in corporate finance, with an emphasis on real-world applications.
• Case Study in Financial Regulation: analyses real scenarios in financial regulation in a learning environment. Guest lectures by practitioners are an integral part of the module.
• Dissertation in Law and Finance (Law): is an in-depth study on a topic in financial law, regulation, corporate finance, or finance theory of the student's choice.

Optional Modules:

• Plus two modules in Law from options that in recent years have included:
  • Advanced Issues in Corporate Law
  • Artificial Intelligence and Finance
  • Financial Products and Contracts
  • International Finance Law
• And two in Finance from options that in recent years have included:
  • Islamic Banking and Finance
  • Multinational Finance
  • Climate Finance
  • FinTech Regulations

Learning

The university uses a variety of teaching methods to help students achieve the most from their learning. They take the form of lectures supported by interactive seminars and workshops, and blend face-to-face teaching with online methods.

The dissertation in Law and Finance is an opportunity to pursue in-depth research study or a real-world analysis of a topic of financial law, regulation, corporate finance, or finance theory of particular interest. The dissertation will be conducted under the supervision of an academic from an appropriate area from the Law School or the Department of Finance.

Outside of timetabled contact hours, students will be expected to undertake independent study in preparation for exams, seminars, assignments, and other forms of assessment, as well as general background reading to broaden their subject knowledge.

Assessment

The majority of compulsory modules are assessed by essays of around 3,000 words to give students an opportunity to demonstrate their understanding of key concepts and principles, with some of the finance modules assessed by written examination. Depending on the options chosen, some modules may also include elements of practical work.

The 8,000-word dissertation is worth one-third of the total mark.

Entry Requirements

• A bachelor's degree with a 2:1 (hons) or equivalent in law or a relevant business degree such as accounting, finance, or economics.
• Graduates with a 2.1 honors degree who also have other legal qualifications and/or substantial professional legal, regulatory, or finance experience may also qualify.
• Students whose native language is not English must show evidence of general proficiency in the English language by normally achieving 7.0 or higher in IELTS with a minimum of 7.0 in the writing component and a minimum of 6.5 in all other components.
• Students from EU member states whose native language is not English may show evidence of general proficiency in the English language by normally achieving 102 or higher in TOEFL with a minimum of 27 in the writing component and a minimum of 25 in all other components.

Alternative Qualifications

• Other UK qualifications
• EU qualifications
• International qualifications

Fees and Funding

Full-Time Fees

• Tuition fees:
  • Home students: £13,600 per year
  • EU students: £29,600 per year
  • Island students: £13,600 per year
  • International students: £29,600 per year

The tuition fees shown are for one complete academic year of study and are set according to the academic year of entry. Fees will be subject to an annual inflationary increase and are expected to rise throughout the program of study.

Scholarships and Bursaries

The university is committed to supporting the best students irrespective of financial circumstances and is delighted to offer a range of funding opportunities.

Career Opportunities

Law

The university's global reputation for legal research and teaching of the highest quality is reflected in the career trajectory of its alumni.

Graduates serve across the full range of legal professions, including solicitors, barristers, judges, members of the Supreme Court, the Court of Appeal, and as consultants and in government. Others have secured stimulating and rewarding positions in national and international law firms.

The university is fully aware of the degree of competition that exists in securing a role in the legal profession and provides a range of resources to help alumni stand out as ideal candidates during the recruitment process. This includes detailed information about the steps involved in becoming a solicitor or barrister, visits from law firms, and guidance on preparing for interviews and assessment days.

Department Information

Law

Durham Law School has an outstanding reputation throughout the legal world. Cutting-edge research led by academic experts enables the university to make a significant contribution to creating and shaping law in the UK and internationally.

Durham Law School is a global leader in the development and framing of law. Led by academics who are experts in their field, the university carries out cutting-edge legal research that feeds into its Masters and research qualifications, building knowledge and nurturing the skills needed to help shape law in the future.

The reputation of the School means its legal know-how is respected by parliamentarians and policy makers around the world. The university's academics have been called to give evidence in Parliament and have had their research work quoted by courts and international bodies.

International law and questions of global policy and governance are an area of special interest at Durham, but the university's expertise extends to other areas, including criminal law and criminal justice, ethics, human rights, European law, gender and law, Chinese law, Commercial and Corporate law, and Global Justice.

The research-led learning environment in the School is one of commitment, innovation, and passion for the subject. The university's highly respected research groups organize lectures and seminars, offering opportunities to hear from eminent scholars and practitioners. Speakers have included judges from the UK Supreme Court, from the European Court of Justice, and leading officials from national and international institutions.

Facilities

The Law School is located in the university's award-winning flagship Palatine Centre, part of a £48.4m sustainable building development.

The School's facilities are purpose-built and state-of-the-art, featuring a moot court, pro bono room, Harvard-style Hogan Lovells lecture theatre, spacious dedicated work suites, and modern wireless and audio-video-enabled research spaces and attractive social areas.

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