SMNR: Regulation of Financial Markets

• Semester: Fall 2026
• Course ID: 397S
• Credit Hours: 3
• Unique: 32005

Registration Status: Waitlisted

Description

Financial regulation is the principal tool used by the public or official sector to achieve or approach financial stability and market integrity, as well as influencing innovations and new products in financial markets. The events of 2023 and 2020-21, and the impact of the financial cataclysms of 2008-10, are evidence that in times of severe stress (whether or not fundamentally economic or financial) the functioning of and support by financial regulation is both objectively and subjectively central.   It's also notable that regulation can stifle important ways in which finance can make funding available to meet the needs of a population and the innovation that enables the financial system to address the needs of the real economy.  It is no surprise, then, that the directions of financial regulation in the US have vacillated notably over the last 20 years. It is worth noting that every year brings considerable change in the regulatory landscape (sometimes only in details and sometimes otherwise). The 2025 changes in US federal financial regulation merit the characterization of "seismic," abruptly shifting a balance of interests toward innovation, and less toward ex ante support of market stability and consumer protection. Accordingly, course materials will change or will be supplemented as the semester progresses. This seminar reviews the structure and operations  of financial market regulation--specifically securities, derivatives (or swaps), banking, and payment systems (particularly aspect to inhibit money laundering and terrorist [or "threat"] financing). We will concentrate on United States regulatory systems, but we will -- as we must-- examine the international regulatory regimes and the cross-border effects of regulation. Know it or not, or like it or not, regulation of financial markets touches and changes every aspect of our economic lives. (Paying rent and buying groceries and obtaining cash from an ATM and obtaining funding for nonprofit organizations and purchasing cryptocurrency are parts of those economic lives, as are public and private issuances of securities, and multibillion dollar financings.) This topic includes cryptocurrency and other digital assets, blockchain records, fintech, public-sector support for markets and issuers, and consumer credit regulation, all of which we will discuss during the class as time permits. This is not a substitute for a securities regulation course but, then, securities regulation is not a prerequisite for this class. While the completion of a course in business associations is not an official prerequisite, a familiarity with the structures of US business associations is a helpful predicate to the material we will cover. A major paper will be required at the end of the course. Course grades are determined by class participation, the paper, and a short writing assignment to be completed in the first part of the course.  (Class participation may include some short, narrow quizzes that are calibrated to assess the general achievement of learning outcomes.)  Consistently with a recognition that the topic has broad application, the course materials come from many sources (some of which may be surprising) and are in different media. That having been said, one requisite for the course--by no means a formal one, but a real requirement-- is that the students have an interest in learning about the area.  And, notwithstanding the language that precedes this sentence, the instructor is pretty casual.