General Course Information
1.1 Course details
| Course code: | LLAW6024 / JDOC6024 |
| Course name: | Banking Law |
| Programme offered under: | LLM Programme / JD Programme |
| Semester: | Second |
| Prerequisites / Co-requisites: | No |
| Credit point value: | 9 credits / 6 credits |
1.2 Course description
This course aims to provide students with a general knowledge of banking business, international regulatory frameworks, and the common law and legal issues pertinent to the banking industry in Hong Kong. Students will be introduced to banking law from an historical and international perspective, the evolution of banking business, and the role of the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision and the Financial Stability Board in developing the current international banking standards. The course elucidates why banks are susceptible to failure and how regulators maintain financial stability when a bank is failing. A major emphasis of the course is substantive law – the ordinances, common law and equitable rules applicable to bankers, bank customers, bank accounts, secured lending, and payment instruments and systems. Contemporary issues will cover how financial and regulatory technologies (FinTech and RegTech) are reshaping banks, banking business, banking laws and regulations. Moreover, the course examines the regulation of sustainable banking in Hong Kong with a focus on financial inclusion and the impact of climate change.
Students are expected to be competent in the common law of contract, commercial law and equity and trusts. A financial and / or legal background is not a perquisite for this course. Students who are unfamiliar with substantive law will need to devote additional study and time to understand the relevant applications of the common law.
1.3 Course teachers
| Name | E-mail address | Office | Consultation | |
| Course convenor | Angus Young | alyoung@hku.hk | CCT 301 | By email |
Learning Outcomes
2.1 Course Learning Outcomes (CLOs) for this course
CLO 1 Have an understanding of the international standard setters and regulation of global banking markets, especially in major financial centres such as Hong Kong.
CLO 2 Understand the role of law and regulation in the business of banking.
CLO 3 Be able to understand and analyse the major financial stability risks in banking and the appropriate regulatory responses.
CLO 4 Be able to critically discuss the common law legal issues pertinent to banking in Hong Kong.
CLO 5 Be familiar with the technological and sustainable financial regulatory reforms in international banking and how these are applied in Hong Kong.
2.2 LLM and JD Programme Learning Outcomes (PLOs)
Please refer to the following link:
LLM – https://course.law.hku.hk/llm-plo/
JD – https://course.law.hku.hk/jd-plo/
2.3 Programme Learning Outcomes to be achieved in this course
| PLO A | PLO B | PLO C | PLO D | PLO E | PLO F | |
| CLO 1 | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| CLO 2 | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| CLO 3 | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| CLO 4 | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| CLO 5 | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
Assessment(s)
3.1 Assessment Summary
| Assessment task | Due date | Weighting | Feedback method* | Course learning outcomes |
| Class participation | N/A | 20% | 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 | |
| Take home exam | 7 May 2024 | 80% | 1 | 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 |
| *Feedback method (to be determined by course teacher) | |
| 1 | A general course report to be disseminated through Moodle |
| 2 | Individual feedback to be disseminated by email / through Moodle |
| 3 | Individual review meeting upon appointment |
| 4 | Group review meeting |
| 5 | In-class verbal feedback |
3.2 Assessment Detail
To be advised by course convenor.
3.3 Grading Criteria
Please refer to the following link: https://www.law.hku.hk/_files/law_programme_grade_descriptors.pdf
Learning Activities
4.1 Learning Activity Plan
| Seminar: | 3 hours / week for 11 teaching weeks |
| Private study time: | 9.5 hours / week for 11 teaching weeks |
Remarks: the normative student study load per credit unit is 25 ± 5 hours (ie. 150 ± 30 hours for a 6-credit course), which includes all learning activities and experiences within and outside of classroom, and any assessment task and examinations and associated preparations.
4.2 Details of Learning Activities
To be advised by course convenor.
Learning Resources
5.1 Resources
| Reading materials: | Reading materials are posted on Moodle |
| Core reading list: | TBA |
| Recommended reading list: | TBA |
5.2 Links
Please refer to the following link: http://www.law.hku.hk/course/learning-resources/