Banking & Financial Law LLM Degree Requirements

The Master of Laws in Banking & Financial Law requires successful completion of twelve courses. The three principal types of courses in the Graduate Program curriculum include:

  • Regulatory: provide solid grounding in the structure and content of financial law and regulation
  • Transactional: familiarize students with typical transactions in areas like lending, securities, mergers, and acquisitions
  • Business-oriented: introduce students to the economics and business principles which underlie banking and financial law

The regular full-time program consists of 12 credits (usually six courses) taken for credit each semester over the course of one academic year. With more than 25 courses offered, students may choose from a variety of classes that suit their needs and interests. With the exception of the Banking Structure and Regulation course, all courses are elective. Students with non-US law degrees may need to take additional courses, such as Introduction to the American Legal System if they wish to qualify to take American bar examinations, requirements for which vary from state to state.

With the permission of the director, students may take a maximum of two courses related to banking and financial services in the School of Law’s JD program and the Graduate Tax Program or from the graduate curriculum of the Questrom School of Business.

An academic advisor works with each student to help in selecting courses appropriate to the student’s interests and requirements.

Concentrations

The program offers five optional concentrations:

  • The Business of Banking
  • Compliance Management
  • Financial Services Transactions
  • Lending and Credit Transactions
  • Securities Transactions

A concentration requires students to take at least four of the courses listed for that concentration. Courses that appear in more than one concentration may be counted in each, but no more than two concentrations may be recorded on a graduate’s transcript.

Grading System

BU Law uses a letter grading system. The range of letter grades and their weight for purposes of determining a student’s cumulative average are:

A+ = 4.3 A = 4.0 A- = 3.7
B+ = 3.3 B = 3.0 B- = 2.7
C+ = 2.3 C = 2.0 C- = 1.7
D = 1.0 F = 0

Students must obtain a final weighted cumulative average of at least B- (2.7) for all courses (including seminars) taken. The required average must be obtained by the end of the semester in which the candidate satisfies the course and credit requirements for the degree.

Additional details are available in the Academic Regulations for the Graduate Program in Banking & Financial Law.