SALERNO MARIA ELENA

Course Unit

International Banking and Financial Regulation (2026–2027)

Objectives

The course aims to provide students with the tools required to analyse the functional and structural changes introduced into the international system of financial regulation and supervision following the 2007–2008 global financial crisis. It examines both the international financial architecture and global financial regulation, with particular attention to the reforms intended to strengthen the resilience of integrated financial markets to systemic crises.

The course also examines the European System of Financial Supervision, the European Banking Union and the principal components of the EU regulatory framework for sustainable finance.

Recommended Prerequisites

Knowledge of the basic principles of public law, company law, and banking and financial law.

Contents

– Objectives and Rationale of Financial Regulation

– The Pre-Crisis International Financial Governance Framework

– International Financial Institutions: Structure and Mandate

– International Standard-Setting Bodies: Structure and Mandate

– National Models of Financial Regulation and Supervision

– The European System of Financial Supervision

– Financial Supervision within the European Banking Union

– Current Challenges and Possible Developments in Global Financial Regulation and Supervision

– EU Sustainable Finance Regulation: the SFDR, the EU Taxonomy Regulation and the European Green Bond Standard

Recommended Textbook and Readings

1. Maria Elena Salerno, Global Financial Governance: The Feasible Future, Giappichelli, Turin, 2018.
2. Volker Brühl, “Green Finance in Europe – Strategy, Regulation and Instruments”, Center for Financial Studies Working Paper No. 657, 2021, available at: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3934042.
3. Stanisław Stefaniak, “Shades of Green: Reconstructing the EU Regulatory Framework for Sustainable Financial Products”, European Business Law Review, vol. 37, no. 4, 2026, available at: https://ssrn.com/abstract=4662134.
4. Danny Busch, “EU Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation”, Capital Markets Law Journal, vol. 18, no. 3, 2023, pp. 303–328, available at: https://doi.org/10.1093/cmlj/kmad005.
5. Nora Hahnkamper-Vandenbulcke, Review of Regulation (EU) 2019/2088 on Sustainability-Related Disclosures in Financial Services, European Parliamentary Research Service, Briefing, 9 October 2025, available at: https://www.europarl.europa.eu/thinktank/en/document/EPRS_BRI(2025)774660

Further legislative, institutional and academic materials will be provided during the course.

Assessment Methods

Mid-term Assessment

The mid-term assessment is based on a specific course module devoted to sustainability in financial regulation. The module comprises:

- two lectures in the second half of October;

- a written test consisting of three open-ended questions on readings Nos. 2–5. It will take place in the final week of the course.

Students who pass the mid-term assessment are exempt from the part of the final examination covering readings Nos. 2–5 and proceed directly to the oral examination on the textbook indicated under No. 1. The exemption remains valid for subsequent examination sessions.

Final Examination

For students who have passed the mid-term assessment, the final examination is oral and is based on the textbook indicated under No. 1. The final grade is determined primarily by the student’s performance in the oral examination. The result of the mid-term assessment plays only a subsidiary role and neither determines nor limits the final grade, which may therefore differ substantially from it, whether higher or lower.

For students who have not passed or have chosen not to take the mid-term assessment, the final examination consists of two parts:

– a written test comprising two open-ended questions based on readings Nos. 2–5. Passing the written test is a prerequisite for admission to the oral examination;

– an oral examination based on the textbook indicated under No. 1.

The written and oral examinations must be taken on the same day. If the student does not pass the oral examination, the passing result obtained in the written test will cease to be valid.