30631 - BUSINESS AND CORPORATE LAW
Department of Law
Course taught in English
Go to class group/s: 28
Course Director:
LUCA ENRIQUES
LUCA ENRIQUES
Suggested background knowledge
None.
Mission & Content Summary
MISSION
The course provides an overview of two key areas of business law, namely the law of corporations and the law regulating markets from the perspective of competition and consumer protection.
The first part of the course, after an introduction on firms and markets, focuses on corporations, the key players in the market. We will take a comparative and functional approach to law, asking ourselves why laws across jurisdictions are what they are, drawing examples from European laws and the US, with a specific focus on UK company law.
The second part of the course will be devoted to an in-depth study of the rules governing the conduct of businesses in the market, with particular emphasis on the protection of competition and the safeguarding of consumer rights. Specifically, students will be encouraged to explore the provisions of EU antitrust law and the EU rules concerning unfair commercial practices.
CONTENT SUMMARY
Part I
– Firms and markets
– Corporations: the essential features
– Corporate stakeholders
– Ownership structures and types of shareholders
– The role of shareholders
– Controlling shareholders and related party transactions
– Boards of directors
– Director duties
– Shareholder litigation
– Creditors
– Workers and corporate governance
– The purpose of the corporation debate
– Mergers and acquisitions
Part II
– The rationale behind the EU rules governing competition and consumer protection
– General concepts such as the notions of undertaking, relevant market, efficiency, average consumer, and fairness
– The rules prohibiting anticompetitive agreements, abuses of dominance, anticompetitive mergers
– The rules prohibiting misleading and aggressive practices
Intended Learning Outcomes (ILO)
KNOWLEDGE AND UNDERSTANDING
At the end of the course student will be able to...
In the first part of the course, students will become familiar with the essential components of corporate law, its functions and how it affects the behaviour of key economic players.
In the second part of the course, students will study the objectives pursued by EU institutions through competition and consumer protection laws, as well as the key analytical frameworks that underpin these regulatory systems and their principal provisions.
APPLYING KNOWLEDGE AND UNDERSTANDING
At the end of the course student will be able to...
After attending the course, students will be able to: (a) critically assess the functions and effects of rules affecting the governance of corporations, thereby gaining the tools to contribute to corporate law reform debates; (b) understand the purpose and structure of EU competition and consumer protection laws, critically analyze their key provisions and regulatory frameworks, and apply them effectively in real-world scenarios.
Teaching methods
- Lectures
- Guest speaker's talks (in class or in distance)
DETAILS
The course will mainly comprise lectures. In addition, we'll have guest speakers from private companies and governmental organizations telling us about their career paths and business cases they have been involved with.
Assessment methods
| Continuous assessment | Partial exams | General exam | |
|---|---|---|---|
|
x |
ATTENDING AND NOT ATTENDING STUDENTS
The final exam will comprise multiple choice questions, open answer questions and scenario questions. Students will be tested on the contents of lectures and the assigned readings.
Teaching materials
ATTENDING AND NOT ATTENDING STUDENTS
Course materials will be announced b the first class of the course and/or uploaded on BlackBoard during the course.
Last change 03/06/2025 10:53