Course Requirements & Announcements
Announcements Spring 2024
Important Course Information
1. New course – Cybersecurity and Privacy
The management of Cybersecurity and Privacy are required for leading, operating, reporting, and complying with statutes and regulations for US businesses.
This course provides an overview of cybersecurity including common terms, policy, strategy, operations, remediation, vulnerabilities, threats, and federal and state statutes and regulations as these pertain to financial services and banking. The cybersecurity triad of Confidentiality, Integrity, and Availability (CIA) and Privacy are covered from the perspective of the Board of Directors, Risk Management Committees, Chief Risk Officers, Chief Information Security Officers, Clients, Regulators, and others. Common Cybersecurity Frameworks such as National Institute for Science and Technology (NIST) , Center for Internet Security (CIS), Assessments and Reports, Techniques for Mitigation (outsourcing, cyber-insurance), are covered. Federal and State Statutory and Regulatory compliance are covered including Graham Leach Bliley (GLBA) Sarbanes-Oxley, Payment Card Industry (PCI), and jurisdictions of Massachusetts, New York, and California. NIST pillars shall be reviewed, emerging standards, applicability to businesses, supply chains, and responsibilities of boards, senior executives, management, and the CISO. The Role of the CISO, CRO, legal counsels, and other parties shall be discussed including new assessment and reporting requirements. The course will be taught by Thomas Cesso and Jenny Hedderman.
2. New faculty
a. Thomas Cesso (Cybersecurity and Privacy) is a successful and seasoned Technology, Cybersecurity, Financial Services, and Higher Education Executive. He performed research in the management of technology at Boston University, conducted IT and Info Security consulting for Fortune 500 firms while at E&Y and PwC, led the recovery from the WTC on 9/11 for Citigroup as Global Head of Technology, and was the subject of a book, Adventures of an IT Leader, and HBS Business Case, Jack Carlisle CIO while CIO of First Marblehead Corp. Thomas is currently faculty and Chief Information Security Officer at Salem State University, Chair of the Higher Education Information Security Officer’s Council, member of InfraGard, a division of the FBI to protect infrastructure, Principal Investigator (PI) for establishing a Cybersecurity Center of Excellence Range at Salem State University, and a Certified Information Systems and Security Professional (CISSP). Thomas is a BU alumnus with a BS and Masters of Engineering and an MBA.
b. Jenny Hedderman (Cybersecuruty and Privacy) is Risk Counsel in the Statewide Risk Management Team in the Massachusetts Office of the Comptroller. Attorney Hedderman specializes in compliance, internal controls, and risk management in the areas of statewide accounting, payroll, financial reporting, and statewide financial audits for 154 state agencies. Her current focus is developing the Comptroller’s Statewide Risk Management program, including cybersecurity internal controls and cybersecurity awareness to reduce fraud and cyber incidents. Recent projects include the CTR Cyber Center website (macomptroller.org/ctr-cyber/) providing cybersecurity content, Cybersecurity Tips of the Week, CTR Cyber 5 (5-minute videos) and other internal controls to improve financial responsibility and protection of data, assets and resources across the Commonwealth. Attorney Hedderman is Chair of the State Records Conservation Board, Secretary of the Essex Co-Operative Farming Association Board, as well as Adjunct Professor in Business Law at Endicott College.
c. Nicole Peppe (Venture Capital Financing) is a partner in Goodwin’s Technology business unit and Private Investment Funds practice. Her practice is focused on the representation of domestic and international venture capital, growth equity, and private equity funds and funds of funds in connection with their fund formation and ongoing operational matters. Nicole primarily represents sponsor organizations ranging from some of the most well-known multibillion dollar investment firms to much smaller firms forming seed and early-stage venture capital, angel, and similar microcap funds.
Nicole regularly advises her clients on all aspects of the fundraising process, including marketing strategies, partnership agreement terms and conditions, review and preparation of all fundraising documents, investor negotiations and relations, placement agent negotiations, internal general partner and management company governance, investment personnel matters, and investment adviser and other regulatory compliance matters. She also represents institutional investors with respect to investments in venture capital, growth equity, and private equity funds. Her representative institutional investor clients have included private and public pension funds and leading funds of funds.
3. Course in the Graduate Tax Program open to Banking students. Taxation and Regulation of Cryptocurrency, offered on Wednesdays from 6:30 – 8:30 pm, is open to Banking Law students for enrollment.
Taxation and Regulation of Cryptocurrency. This course is designed to provide an introductory understanding of the theory and principles by which decentralized digital currencies – cryptocurrencies – operate, within both a practical and legal framework. The course can be broken down into three broad topics: (1) An examination of the concept of money, currency, and legal tender; (2) An introduction to the history of decentralized digital currencies, including the logic of a peer- to-peer payment system, the decentralized governance of cryptocurrency solutions, an analysis of the problems that cryptocurrencies are intended to resolve, and a high-level understanding of the blockchain; and (3) An in- depth examination and analysis of the current state of regulatory and tax treatment of various cryptocurrency transactions in the United States and in international jurisdictions.
4. Drop/Add Period and Attendance.The Drop/Add period will be from January 16 to January 29, 2024. While students will be allowed to add and drop classes during this time, we expect everyone to be reading all assignments and fully participating in all classes for which they register. This is especially true for those who may be on the wait-list for any courses. Please note that some courses may have reading assignments or homework even before classes begin. Be sure to check the course Blackboard site for each class.
5. Foreign Lawyers; New York State Bar Examination– foreign-trained lawyers who would like to qualify to sit for the New York State Bar Examination must sign up for the following courses in the spring semester:
a. Corporations II (2 credits) – Morrissey
b. Professional Responsibility (2 credits) – Weir Westby – and
c. Secured Transactions (2 credits) – Refolo.
For more information on US State Bar Exams check the information contained on the LLM Professional Development page.
6. Course Cancellation– Although we will avoid this as much as possible, the Graduate Program reserves the right to cancel a course due to low enrollment.
7. Financial Services Law Internship– In order to do the Financial Services Law Internship, a student must meet the following requirements:
a. complete at least one semester of study in the Banking Program;
b. hold a cumulative GPA of at least 3.20; and
c. pursue the Financial Services Transactions concentration.
Students must note that internships involve requirements over and above the regular full load of courses. Grading is on a pass-fail basis.
Banking & Financial Law Courses
The Banking and Financial Law Program has one required course, Banking Structure and Regulation, offered only in the fall semester. All other credit requirements may be satsfied by successful completion of any courses offered through the program. The Banking & Financial Law Program offers five optional concentrations. In order to help focus their studies, students may choose up to two concentrations that will appear in their final transcript. Foreign-trained lawyers who want to sit for the New York or Massachusetts bar exam need to take the required courses listed under Bar Admission for International Students.
Auditing Courses
With written permission of the course instructor, students auditing a course will be allowed to sit in on classes of the course but will not receive any grade or credit for it. Upon completion of the course and meeting the requirements prescribed, the student’s transcript will reflect that the course was audited. Although an auditing student will not be required to take mid-term or final exams, he or she will not be excused from class attendance, participation or other requirements the instructor may specify.
Full time students only may audit one course per semester in addition to the regular full time load of six courses. There is no additional charge for auditing an extra course. Part time students may audit an additional course, but will be assessed tuition for the course.
To audit a course, a student must comply with the following requirements:
- The student must meet with the program director for advising.
- The student must register for the course by the end of the drop/add period.
- The student must obtain the professor’s written permission to audit the course, by completing an audit permission form, available in the Banking Program office.
- At the end of the semester, the professor must provide the Graduate Program with written verification that the student attended the course throughout the semester and completed all applicable requirements by signing the “End of Semester Audit Form”. Please note that if the signed written form is not received by the end of the semester, the course will not be reflected on the student’s transcript. After the close of the drop/add period, a student may not convert an audited course to a credit course.
Non-Program Courses
Banking & Financial Law LLM students must obtain permission from the Program Director to register for all non-program courses except Physical Education courses. In a request to the Director, please indicate the following:
- the course to be taken (the full course title and course number, instructor, day and time);
- the justification for taking the course; and
- the qualification to take the course (if the course requires a prerequisite subject).
After obtaining approval from the Director, students should confer with the Program at banklaw@bu.edu about the registration procedure.
Courses sought to satisfy the 24-credit degree requirement MUST be related to banking or financial services and chosen from the Law School’s JD program or the Graduate Tax program. Credit from outside courses for the Banking & Financial Law degree is limited to two credits per course and up to two courses in total.
Grades for courses taken outside of the Banking and Financial Law Program and within the Law School for credit are included in the calculation of a student’s grade point average.
Non-Law Courses: Physical Education
Physical Education courses (PDP classes) vary from 0.5 to 2.0 credits. Descriptions and schedules can be found on the Student Portal. Please note that students may not take a Physical Education courses for Law School credit; such courses must be audited. Credits for PDP classes will count toward the 18-credits per semester limit. To register for a PDP class before classes begin, send a request to banklaw@bu.edu with the course name, course number and section. If the course is not closed or needing permission, we will register you for the course. If classes have started, pick up a University Drop/Add Form at the Banking Program Office. Have the course instructor sign it, and submit it to the Banking Program Office for registration.
Bar Admission for International Students
The Graduate Program in Banking and Financial Law is not intended to be a preparatory program for international attorneys leading to the practice of law in the United States. Students are expected to return home after completing their studies. Each of the fifty states has its own criteria and procedures for admitting lawyers to practice, and achieving the LLM degree does not qualify international lawyers to apply for admission to take the bar examination in every state or to practice law in every state. Because of frequent changes in state bar admission requirements, foreign lawyers should seek information directly from the board of bar examiners of the state(s) in which they wish to practice. Information on state bar requirement is available in the American Bar Association’s Comprehensive Guide to Admission Requirements.
Students who are interested in sitting for the New York, Massachusetts or California Bar exams must carefully review the information on this page: Graduate Programs Professional Development. Be sure to pay attention to deadlines, some of which occur early in the academic year. Bar exam information sessions will be held at the Law School during the academic year.