Facoltà di Economia

Aggiornato A.A. 2016-2017

Legal Theory and Ethics in Business


M.Sc. Finance and Banking

Fall 2016

Prof. Stéphane Bauzon

The course Legal Theory and Ethics in Business  holds that financial markets are legally constructed and as such occupy an essentially hybrid place between state and market, public and private. At the same time, financial markets exhibit dynamics that frequently put them in direct ethical tension with commitments enshrined in law or driven by benefits. In response to financial crisis, this course is to prepare students for the legal and ethical questions they may be forced to answer in the decades to come. It is not only to make law a priority but a matter of giving voice to ethical values.
The course is intended to provide with an understanding of legal context in which all firms must operate, contract principle, liability as well as the ethical issues. Instruction will also focus on how to identify important legal and ethical issues and the handling of such issues within a business organization. Classes will typically consist of lectures, supplemented by case studies. A Guest speaker will join to critique presentations of ethical cases in which he/she is involved in banking and finance.

Specific areas of instruction will include:
• Sources of norms in Common Law and Civil Law
• The legislative, judicial and regulatory system
• Principle of contract formation
• Contract parties, contract form and purposes
• Effects of illegality performance and breach
• Intentional torts and principle of liability,
• Legal compliance and anti-corruption
• Ethics of social responsibility
• Ethics of sustainable development
• Anti-discrimination

Grade Assessment
• Class Participation/ Readings (30%)
• Oral Exam (70%)

Textbooks :
Materials given on the Website