Announcements

Academy Documents

Please access the Students' Policies & Forms through this link. The following documents are all available in the link - Student Handbook, Student Code of Conduct,  Students' Privacy Notice, Deferral, Suspension, and Cancellation Policy, Assignment Extension Policy, Re-Sit Policy, Complaints Procedure Policy, Equality Policy and Student Disciplinary Policy.

Online Sessions Link

To connect to the online sessions of this module please click on this link . You will be asked to register your attendance if you are not already signed in into your Zoom account. You will also be asked for the password which is below.

Meeting ID: 872 7718 1077
Passcode: 154235

Make sure that you show with your name & surname as you have been registered for the study programme. This is very important for attendance purposes.

Lecture Schedule & Notes

Lecture notes will be available during the week following the respective lecture. Schedule dates are indicative and may change. All changes, if any, may be communicated via email, SMS or telephone calls.

Lecturers 

Dr Michael Buhagiar

Dr Kyle Debattista

Dr Andrei Vella

Lecture Summaries & Suggested Reading 

Lecture 1 - History and Legislative Landscape

Following this session students will be learning about:

• the history of banking and lending,
• why banks have such a special and critical position within modern society,
• what are the myriad of laws which have a bearing on the business of banking. The intention for this first session is that of giving a brief overview of all such laws, namely:
  • the Banking Act;
  • the Companies Act;
  • the Civil Code;
  • the MFSA Act;
  • the Recovery and Resolution Regulations;
  • the Credit Institutions (Reorganisation and Winding Up) Regulations;
  • the EU Capital Requirement Regulations;
  • Investment Services Act;
  • Consumer Protection legislation;
  • AML/CFT laws;
  • Employment laws;

Core Reading List

• Farrugia Randon, P., 1983. Aspects Of Maltese Law For Bankers. Valletta, Malta: Malta Centre.
• Fabri D. 2022. Studies in Maltese Regulations Financial Services Law.
• Rider, B., Abrams, C. and Ashe, M., 1998. Guide To Financial Services Regulation. CCH Editions.
• Lomnicka, E. and Powell, J., 2011. Encyclopedia Of Financial Services Law. London: Sweet & Maxwell.

Supplementary Reading List

• Sinkey, J., 1992. Commercial Bank Financial Management In The Financial-Services Industry. New York: Macmillan Pub. Co.
• Malloy, M., 2011. Principles Of Bank Regulation. St. Paul, MN.: West.
• Burnett, R., 2004. Law Of International Business Transactions. Sydney: Federation Press.

Lecture 2 - The Basic Legal Notions

Following this session students will be learning about:

• the basic legal characteristics of the business of banking. During this session, we will explore the following legal concepts and their use in banking transactions:
  • Lending;
  • Joint & several obligations;
  • Suretyship;
  • Hypothecs and privilege;
  • Pledge;
  • Security by title transfer; and
  • Bills of exchange.
• And assess case law related to the sector

Core Reading List

• Farrugia Randon, P., 1983. Aspects Of Maltese Law For Bankers. Valletta, Malta: Malta Centre.
• Fabri D. 2022. Studies in Maltese Regulations Financial Services Law.
• Rider, B., Abrams, C. and Ashe, M., 1998. Guide To Financial Services Regulation. CCH Editions.
• Lomnicka, E. and Powell, J., 2011. Encyclopedia Of Financial Services Law. London: Sweet & Maxwell.

Supplementary Reading List

• Sinkey, J., 1992. Commercial Bank Financial Management In The Financial-Services Industry. New York: Macmillan Pub. Co.
• Malloy, M., 2011. Principles Of Bank Regulation. St. Paul, MN.: West.
• Burnett, R., 2004. Law Of International Business Transactions. Sydney: Federation Press.

Lecture 3 - Depositor and Consumer Safeguards

Following this session students will be learning:

• About the legislative safeguards which are intended to allow customers of banks (specifically consumers) to make informed decisions with respect to services acquired from banks, as well as about those mechanisms which are intended to protect deposit holders in the event that a bank fails. During this session, we will be exploring:
  • Consumer credit related legislation;
  • The deposit compensation scheme.

Core Reading List

• Farrugia Randon, P., 1983. Aspects Of Maltese Law For Bankers. Valletta, Malta: Malta Centre.
• Fabri D. 2022. Studies in Maltese Regulations Financial Services Law.
• Rider, B., Abrams, C. and Ashe, M., 1998. Guide To Financial Services Regulation. CCH Editions.
• Lomnicka, E. and Powell, J., 2011. Encyclopedia Of Financial Services Law. London: Sweet & Maxwell.

Supplementary Reading List

• Sinkey, J., 1992. Commercial Bank Financial Management In The Financial-Services Industry. New York: Macmillan Pub. Co.
• Malloy, M., 2011. Principles Of Bank Regulation. St. Paul, MN.: West.
• Burnett, R., 2004. Law Of International Business Transactions. Sydney: Federation Press.

Lecture 4 - Banking: A Highly Regulated Business

Following this session students will be learning about:

• certain regulatory aspects relating to the licensing and ongoing supervision of banks. Specifically with respect to the latter, the session will focus on the various internal governance organs within a credit institution required in terms of law to ensure an adequate level of checks and balances;
• The session will also briefly touch upon the basic AML/CFT obligations imposed upon banks as subject persons.

Core Reading List

• Farrugia Randon, P., 1983. Aspects Of Maltese Law For Bankers. Valletta, Malta: Malta Centre.
• Fabri D. 2022. Studies in Maltese Regulations Financial Services Law.
• Rider, B., Abrams, C. and Ashe, M., 1998. Guide To Financial Services Regulation. CCH Editions.
• Lomnicka, E. and Powell, J., 2011. Encyclopedia Of Financial Services Law. London: Sweet & Maxwell.

Supplementary Reading List

• Sinkey, J., 1992. Commercial Bank Financial Management In The Financial-Services Industry. New York: Macmillan Pub. Co.
• Malloy, M., 2011. Principles Of Bank Regulation. St. Paul, MN.: West.
• Burnett, R., 2004. Law Of International Business Transactions. Sydney: Federation Press.

Lecture 5 - Winding Up Banks

Following this session students will be learning about:

• the complexities surrounding the winding-up of banks, including the various laws regulating the same, and the overlaps between such laws;
• the winding up of a bank is to be preceded by attempts at its recovery, if at all possible. The session will briefly explore the legislation regulating bank recoveries;

The sessions will also set out a comparative analysis with how some other foreign jurisdictions deal with the winding up of banks and assess case law related to the sector.

Core Reading List

• Farrugia Randon, P., 1983. Aspects Of Maltese Law For Bankers. Valletta, Malta: Malta Centre.
• Fabri D. 2022. Studies in Maltese Regulations Financial Services Law.
• Rider, B., Abrams, C. and Ashe, M., 1998. Guide To Financial Services Regulation. CCH Editions.
• Lomnicka, E. and Powell, J., 2011. Encyclopedia Of Financial Services Law. London: Sweet & Maxwell.

Supplementary Reading List

• Sinkey, J., 1992. Commercial Bank Financial Management In The Financial-Services Industry. New York: Macmillan Pub. Co.
• Malloy, M., 2011. Principles Of Bank Regulation. St. Paul, MN.: West.
• Burnett, R., 2004. Law Of International Business Transactions. Sydney: Federation Press.

Methods of Assessment

2 out of a choice of 4 assignment titles - 100% weighting

Assignment

You have to choose 2 out of the 4 questions which are available in the Assignment Submission form below. Assignment should be submitted by not later than Thursday 20 July 2023. The assignment has to be submitted together with the Assignment Submission Form. Please indicate the questions which you have addressed in the Assignment Submission form.

Assignment Submission Form

If you need information on how to plan, draft and submit your assignment follow the 21 Academy presentation on Writing and Submitting your Assignment.

We are also making the 21 Academy's Assignments Rubric available for your guidance. This is a performance-based assessment tool. Tutors will use the rubric to assist them to allocate scoring while it allows students to understand what is required in the assignment and how it will be graded. For referencing purposes, as much as possible please use the Oscola Referencing Guide.

Submitting Assignment - Turnitin

The Academy will notify you that assignment questions are available through an email. Through another email sent to you by turnitin (probably on the same day) you will be notified that you have been added to a "class" where you may upload your assignment/s. Assignments should be submitted by not later than 23:59hrs of the assignment submission deadline shown on the Assignment Submission form and/or the "class".

At 21 Academy you can submit more than one draft of your assignment before the submission final deadline. The last version left uploaded at the submission deadline will be considered to be your final submission paper and will be the one which will be assessed. Make sure that your final submission does not go beyond 20% similarity when including direct quotations (the sentences in-between quotes).

Follow this very short video to understand how to submit your assignment through turnitin - submitting a paper

To understand the similarity report generated by turnitin follow this 1 minute video - understanding the similarity report

Oscola Referencing Guide

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