General Course Information
1.1 Course details
| Course code: | LLAW6245 / JDOC6245 |
| Course name: | Compliance in the Hong Kong Securities Industry |
| Programme offered under: | LLM Programme / JD Programme |
| Semester: | Second |
| Prerequisites / Co-requisites: | Successful completion of LLAW6049 Securities regulation I. [Priority to LLM(CR) FT & PT2 students] |
| Credit point value: | 9 credits / 6 credits |
| Cap on student numbers: | 30 |
1.2 Course description
The course will provide students with an understanding of the core roles, tasks, challenges and issues that a regulated intermediary must deal with when seeking to comply with applicable laws and regulations. While compliance can readily be understood as an objective, much of the course will be concerned with the hurdles and issues that face compliance as a function when implemented in the complex matrix of regulatory requirements, business needs, management styles, and cultural and behavioural factors.
The course will commence with a brief recap of the regulatory framework for Hong Kong securities industry, including the overarching objectives of regulation, and an ad hoc review of some important failures that serve to highlight the relationship between compliance, regulations and the proper operation of markets.
With a view to giving a 360-degree review of the compliance function, the course will explore perspectives on topics such as the different roles of compliance in different types of organizations, and the compliance function in the context of an organization’s culture, corporate governance practices, and ethics. The role of compliance in the organization’s relationships with third parties (including customers, clients, counterparties, and regulators) and its role as a risk management function will be considered.
With a view to giving students closer contact with the realities of the compliance task, the course will make extensive use of speakers from the industry and the regulators. The format of each lecture will in general be comprised of two halves, the first being in a lecture format, the second being discussion-based and driven by small group work and question and answer discussions. Accordingly, student participation is expected and required to contribute to the learning context.
1.3 Course teachers
| Name | E-mail address | Office | Consultation | |
| Course convenor | Syren Johnstone | syrenj@hku.hk | CCT 513 | By email |
Learning Outcomes
2.1 Course Learning Outcomes (CLOs) for this course
CLO 1 Describe and explain the relationship between the compliance function and the proper operation of intermediaries and markets
CLO 2 Understand the typical issues and hurdles that a compliance function must deal with in order to meet its primary objectives
CLO 3 Apply legal and regulatory requirements into an integrated compliance approach in different types of regulated intermediaries, and issuers
CLO 4 Understand the relationship between compliance, corporate governance, and corporate culture, and what may go wrong where these are wrongly aligned
CLO 5 Identify how dealings with third parties may impact on regulatory compliance Demonstrate an awareness of the business rationale for compliance
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 |
| Participation | N/A | 15% | 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 | |
| Individual coursework | TBC | 25% | 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 | |
| Take-home exam^ | 1 May 2024 | 60% | 1 | 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 |
^ Students are required to pass the exam to be eligible to pass the course.
| *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(s).
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
| Lecture: | 3 hours / week for 12 teaching weeks |
| Private study time: | 9.5 hours / week for 12 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(s).
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/