Law and finance course launched

The legal system and the financial world are often in expensive strife with one another. But in a novel development, practising lawyers and financial academics have combined to mount what is believed to be New Zealand's first post-experience course in law and finance.

Victoria University announced today that it has signed a contract with Simon McArley of Kensington Swan (soon to be KPMG Legal) and Peter McKenzie, a Wellington Barrister and formerly chairman of the Securities Commission, to offer a specialist one semester course within the framework of its Master of Applied Finance degree.

The new structure will cover issues in corporate authority, financial instruments, use of corporate information, corporate liability, risk management, prudential supervision, securities regulation and other sensitive areas for financial organisations. The course is designed to be product oriented, dealing with specific legal issues that affect the everyday business of the financial sector.

"We have been hoping for some time to be able to mount a course of this nature", said Professor Bob Buckle, the Head of the School of Economics and Finance.

"We are delighted to have industry figures of such experience prepared to make their time available, and to solve what has been a difficult problem of explaining the legal system to financial practitioners who have to work within it."

The new course will commence in July of this year, and like other courses on the programme, will run in concentrated 'block release' mode.

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