Units
International Capital Markets Law and Regulation
Unit code: AYN426
Credit points: 12
Information about fees and unit costs
This Unit provides understanding of the regulation of global financial markets including the history, philosophy and economics of capital markets and the regulatory models used by governments. The 2008 Global Financial Crisis is reviewed including the effects of margin lending. The Australian Prudential System is compared to systems in other economies. An overview of the Corporations Act, including anti-cartel and executive remuneration provisions, provides a foundation in corporate law and regulation. Corporate misfeasance; fundamentals of the Principal-Agent problem; basic Trust law and anti-monopoly regulations; an introduction to derivative actions and Board independence; and the regulation of financial instruments, are also included.
Availability
| Semester | Available |
|---|---|
| 2013 Semester 1 | Yes |
| 2013 Semester 2 | Yes |
Sample subject outline - Semester 1 2013
Note: Subject outlines often change before the semester begins. Below is a sample outline.
Rationale
Important: There is a restriction on the total enrolments in this unit. Initial enrolment is restricted to students who have been pre-approved.
For continuing students, pre-approved study plans are provided on the School of Accountancy Postgraduate Student Community Blackboard site (the link for this site should appear on the QUT Blackboard homepage and listed under My Communities).
For students who are yet to commence their QUT study, your pre-approved study plan will also appear on the School of Accountancy Postgraduate Student Community Blackboard site which will be periodically updated to allow access to your pre-approved study plan. Alternatively, you may contact the Postgraduate Administration Officer (accadmin@qut.edu.au ) for study plan advice.
If resources permit, then consideration will be given to students who wish to seek approval to amend their pre-approved study plan.
Recent times have seen an explosion of innovative business and financial structures which, in the wake of the global financial crisis, have presented a plethora of challenges and opportunities for all stakeholders in the regulatory process. Many commercial decisions involve a consideration of business and corporate law, trust law, finance law, stakeholders' economic incentives, and the likely impacts of combining these in different ways on companies, financiers, regulators and society. Postgraduates with an accountancy or other business degree should understand the critical legal, economic, financial and ethical issues inherent in these decisions, and possess a broad knowledge of the legal techniques by which different legal and financing structures are used in professional practice to engineer multifarious commercial and regulatory objectives; the ways in which Australian and international authorities regulate their capital markets; and likely future trends in international capital markets law and regulation. The purpose of this unit is to enable students to develop an understanding of these issues within a theoretical framework firmly grounded in recent case studies from practice, both in Australia and internationally.
Aims
This unit aims to further students' knowledge and understanding of Australian corporations and business law, as well as other aspects of the law as it relates to the different forms of business organisation and regulation, both in Australia and internationally. In attaining this aim, students will be encouraged to develop their research and analytical skills. Upon successful completion of the unit, students should also have sufficient basic understanding of the legal issues involved in international capital markets law and regulation to enable them to recognise relevant structures for particular commercial situations, assess the likely impacts of those structures on relevant stakeholders in the regulatory processes in Australia and internationally, and anticipate likely stakeholder reactions to those arrangements.
Objectives
Course Learning Goals (Postgraduate)
The QUT Business School has established the Assurance of Learning (AOL) Goals to meet contemporary industry needs and standards. Achieving these learning outcomes will assist you to meet the desired graduate outcomes set at QUT - aligned with other internationally renowned business schools. Students will develop the following capabilities relevant to a contemporary global and sustainable business environment:
Have knowledge and skills pertinent to a particular discipline (KS)
1.1 Well-researched knowledge and critical understanding applied to issues at the forefront of a specialised discipline area
1.2 Ability to select and use effectively a range of tools and technologies to locate and/or generate information appropriate to the disciplinary context
Be critical thinkers and effective problem solvers (CTA)
2.1 Apply logical, critical and creative thinking and judgement to generate appropriate solutions to problems in the disciplinary context
Be professional communicators in an intercultural context (PC)
3.1 Ability to create and present professional documents and/or reports using high levels of analysis/synthesis/evaluation for a range of contexts and audiences
3.2 Ability to orally communicate and justify ideas and information, at a professional level, for a variety of contexts and audiences, including peers and discipline specialists
Be able to work effectively in a Team Environment (TW)
4.1 Operate effectively and with flexibility to achieve common goals in collaborative settings, using a range of skills, including leadership, negotiation, reflection, proactivity and support for team members
Have a Social and Ethical Understanding (SEU)
5.1 Apply knowledge of the ethical, social and cultural dimensions relevant to business situations, including appropriate standards or codes of practice, to provide courses of action
Unit Objectives
On completion of this unit, students should be able to:
1. demonstrate a coherent, extensive understanding of current Australian and international capital market regulation. Students should be able to understand and apply the relevant sections, cases and principles of Australian capital market law and regulation in context with the legal position relating to, among other issues, corporate governance, executive remuneration, and margin trading in a global setting;
2. employ international rule sets, agreements, treaties, conventions and other international trade management systems to analyse, discuss and resolve problems and issues relating to Australian and international corporations law and capital market regulation ;
3. appreciate the dynamic nature of international capital markets and the regulations that prevail within them which impact on the legal rights and obligations of all key stakeholders in the market;
4. apply knowledge of Australian and International corporations law and capital market regulation to real-world situations;
5. maintain an intellectual interest in, and understanding of developments in Australian capital market law and international capital market regulation.
The specific course learning goals and unit objectives that apply to this unit are shown in the assessment section of this unit outline.
Content
The following provides a brief overview of the topics to be covered:
· Introduction - the global financial crisis and securitisation; securitisation of water, energy and carbon emissions;
· Trusts (incl. Fixed trusts, public and private unit trusts, discretionary trusts; establishment, operation and uses of trusts for asset protection, superannuation and income splitting for tax purposes);
· Capital (incl. instalment warrants, margin lending arrangements, stapled securities);
· Dividends and company meetings;
· Disclosure and fundraising (equity and debt);
· Managed Investment Schemes; Financial services regulation;
· Insider trading and market manipulation;
· Mergers and acquisitions, and corporate restructuring (incl. members' schemes of arrangement and private equity);
· Partnerships, joint ventures, limited partnerships, Public-Private Partnerships;
· International Documentary Credit Regulation
Note that a discussion of Business Ethics is embedded throughout the topics covered in this unit.
Refer to the AYN426 Week 1 Unit Information document for a more detailed lecture and tutorial schedule. Weekly readings/references will be provided separately as appropriate.
Approaches to Teaching and Learning
Teaching and learning strategies are designed to facilitate the aims and objectives of the unit. The emphasis on the regulation of the Capital Market is to equip students with the necessary skills so as to research and, where appropriate, solve practical and legal problems relating to corporate and business exposure to the capital market; and, where it is not possible to do this 'in house', to be able to identify the relevant legal issues in practice and know when to refer them to lawyers for specialist legal advice.
Lectures
Students are expected to attend all sessions/lectures, which are delivered in Intensive Mode. Detailed lecture notes and PowerPoint presentation files are provided for students which should be downloaded from the AYN426 Blackboard site and brought to the lecture. Students can access Blackboard using any computer that has Internet access. The QUT Student Computing Guide contains information on how to access and use the computing facilities at QUT.
This unit uses the SafeAssign tool in BlackBoard. SafeAssign is a text matching tool that assists students to develop the academic skills required to correctly use and cite reference material as well as to check citations and determine possible instances of plagiarism. You will be expected to submit draft and/or final versions of one or more assignments using SafeAssign. Your Unit Coordinator will provide detailed information on how the software will be used in this unit.
Assessment
The assessment in this unit aims to support student achievement of the learning objectives for both Discipline Knowledge and Other Postgraduate Capabilities. Assessment has been designed in order to allow students to both:
- receive feedback on your learning as you progress toward the development of knowledge, understanding, skills and attitudes (formative assessment); and
- demonstrate your learning in order to achieve a final grade (summative assessment).
Assessment name:
Individual Assignment
Description:
The individual assignment topic is to be provided by the lecturer in the first few weeks of classes.
Length/Duration:2000 words maximum
Formative or Summative: Formative and Summative
Relates to objectives:
Unit objectives: 1, 2, 3, 4 and AOL goals: KS (1.1), CTA (2.1,) PC (3.1)
Weight:
50%
Internal or external:
Internal
Group or individual:
Individual
Due date:
TBA
Assessment name:
End of Semester Examination
Description:
The examination is open book, take home examination. All topics covered throughout the semester are examinable.
Length/Duration: 2,000 words maximum
Formative or Summative: Summative
Relates to objectives:
Unit objectives: 1, 2, 3, 4 and AOL goals: KS (1.1), CTA (2.1,) PC (3.1).
Weight:
50%
Internal or external:
Internal
Group or individual:
Individual
Due date:
Central Exam Period
Academic Honesty
QUT is committed to maintaining high academic standards to protect the value of its qualifications. To assist you in assuring the academic integrity of your assessment you are encouraged to make use of the support materials and services available to help you consider and check your assessment items. Important information about the university's approach to academic integrity of assessment is on your unit Blackboard site.
A breach of academic integrity is regarded as Student Misconduct and can lead to the imposition of penalties.
Resource materials
Texts
Lecture materials, tutorial questions and, occasionally, additional readings are available for students to downland from QUT's Blackboard site. Students are expected to print these materials prior to attending the lecture sessions. There are NO prescribed texts for this unit. It is recommended that students refer to the following texts for additional reading and comprehension:
1. Lipton, P. & Herzberg, A., Understanding Company Law, latest edition. LBC Information Services.
2. Harris, J., Hargoven, A & Adams, M., Australian Corporate Law, 2nd Edition, Lexis Nexis Butterworths
3. Australian Corporations and Securities Legislation (latest edition) CCH or Butterworths. (Volume 1)
(NB: Students will find that past editions of the text book and legislation are out of date because of major legislative changes. Using old editions usually confuses students and latest editions are recommended. Revised editions downloaded from Government websites are the most appropriate for use.)
References will also be made to the following legislation:
Financial System Legislation Amendment (Financial Claims Scheme and Other Measures) Act 2008 (Cth).
Financial Claims Scheme (ADIs) Levy Act 2008 (Cth)
Financial Claim Scheme (General Insurers) Levy Act 2008 (Cth)
Corporations Legislation Amendment (Financial Services Modernisation) Act 2009 (Cth)
Australian Consumer and Competition Act 2010 (Cth)
Corporations Amendment (Financial Market Supervision) Act 2010 (Cth)
Financial Framework Legislation Amendment Act 2010 (Cth)
Corporations Act 2001 (Cth)
The Trusts Act 1973 (Qld) as amended - Queensland Government Printer.
(These Acts are available from GO PRINT, 371 Vulture Street Woolloongabba or 'Mineral House', Corner of George & Margaret Streets, City. They are also available on the Internet at http://www.legislation.qld.gov.au http://www.austlii.edu.au and ).
References
Latimer, P. (latest edition). Australian Business Law. CCH.
Australian Corporations and Securities Law Reporter. CCH Looseleaf Service, QUT Library database.
Baxt, R., Fletcher, K. & Fridman, Saul (latest edition) Afterman and Baxt's Cases and Materials on Corporation and Associations, 8th edition, Butterworths.
Ford, H.A.J., Austin, R.P. and Ramsay, I.M. (latest edition). Principles of Corporation Law, 11th edition, Butterworths.
The Associations Incorporation Manual, Myles McGregor-Lowndes, (ed.) QUT. (contains a copy of the Associations Incorporation Act).
Vermeesch, R.B. & Lindgren, K.E. Business Law of Australia , latest edition. Butterworths.
Other Resources
The internet is a vitally important and excellent source of information for students wishing to obtain the most up to date information in this area where the law is in a constant state of change and development. Some of the most useful web sites are:
1. Australasian Legal Information Institute
http://www.austlii.edu.au/
2. Australian Securities and Investments Commission
http://www.asic.gov.au
3. CCH Online
http://www.cch.com.au (user name: qut1; password: library)
4. Commonwealth Attorney General's Department
http://www.comlaw.gov.au/
5. CPA Australia
http://www.cpaonline.com.au
6. Institute of Chartered Accountants in Australia
http://www.icaa.org.au
Relevant Corporate Law and Related Journals
· Australian Business Law Review
· Australian Journal of Corporate Law
· Companies and Securities Law Journal
· Insolvency Law Journal
· Australian Law Journal
· Australian Bar Review
· Trusts and Trustees (Oxford Journals Online)
· Journal of Banking and Finance Law and Practice
Risk assessment statement
There are no out-of-the-ordinary risks associated with lectures or tutorials in this unit. You should, however, familiarise yourself with evacuation procedures operating in the buildings in which you attend classes and take the time to
view the Emergency video.
Disclaimer - Offer of some units is subject to viability, and information in these Unit Outlines is subject to change prior to commencement of semester.
Last modified: 11-Feb-2013
