To earn the one-year LL.M. in Financial Services Law, students are required to complete 24 credit hours with certain required courses and a written thesis (Independent Research) to be undertaken with supervision from the director of the program or his designee. All FS students must take one of the following courses: Securities Regulation, Futures Regulation or Regulation; and all students must take at least one independent research course leading to a paper suitable for publication. Students who do not hold a U.S. JD degree are required to take Introduction to the American Legal System. Each semester of a student’s program must be approved in advance by the director of the program and no course may be taken Pass/Fail.
For international students who are F-1 and J-1 visa holders undertaking to complete the program in one academic year, the independent research paper must be completed during the spring semester - no "incomplete" grades will be permitted except under extraordinary circumstances. Students failing to complete the independent paper during the second semester will not earn their degrees, and will then be in violation of their visa status and may be required to leave the country. They will therefore be ineligible to follow their studies with an internship or work authorized under "Optional Practical Training."
With prior permission of the director of the program, courses from the Chicago-Kent J.D. program, LL.M. program in international and comparative law, and from the Stuart School's Master of Science in Financial Markets program may be taken to fulfill some requirements.
Available financial services courses include:
Securities Regulation
Futures Regulation
Commercial Banking
Investment Banking
Insurance Organizations and Business
Regulation of Securities and Commodities Professionals
Money Managers
Capital Markets: U.S Debt and Funds Transfer Markets
