Institute for Law and Finance

The Institute for Law and Finance (ILF) is a graduate school which was established as a non-profit foundation in 2002 by Goethe University Frankfurt am Main with the support of many prominent institutions. Leading commercial banks and international law firms, the Frankfurt Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the City of Frankfurt and the State of Hesse, as well as the European Central Bank and the Deutsche Bundesbank are actively involved in the ILF right from the planning stages until today. The ILF provides interdisciplinary training to lawyers, senior management and executives in Germany and worldwide and serves as a policy center in the legislative process by offering forums for discussions and exchanges between academia and practitioners.
The ILF offers the LL.M Finance and LL.M International Finance Degree Programs, Spring School on "Corporate Law in Practice" and Summer School on "Law of Banking and Capital Markets.
The Executive Director of the ILF is Andreas Cahn, Endowment Funds Commerzbank Professorship, Goethe University Frankfurt am Main. Theodor Baums, Professor of Civil, Corporate & Capital Markets Law, Goethe University Frankfurt and Manfred Wandt, Director, Institute for Insurance Law, Goethe University Frankfurt are ILF directors.
LL.M. Finance Program.
The ILF at Goethe University in Frankfurt am Main offers a one-year postgraduate program leading to a LL.M. in Finance (LL.M. Finance) for graduate students with a bachelor's degree in law, business, or economics. German is not a requirement for admission since all courses are conducted in English. Goethe-University in Frankfurt am Main is one of Germany’s most prominent higher education institutions.
About 50 graduates will be admitted for study. The program is aimed at students with a prior degree in law or business/economics and who have an interest in combining theoretical knowledge with practical training in law and international finance. Previous professional experience is not a requirement, but would be an advantage. The emphasis is on international diversity, with over 20 different countries represented among the students. The program builds on the role of Frankfurt am Main as a leading banking, central banking and financial center of the European Union.
The curriculum is interdisciplinary covering all aspects of international financial law with emphasis on the EU and the US, along with parallel developments in the field of international finance. The students can choose from a list consisting of more than 35 courses such as Law of Corporate Finance, Capital Markets and Securities Law, Risk & Reward: The Business of Financial Intermediation, Financial Markets and Institutions, Law of Project and Acquisition Finance, Law of Investment Banking, Law of Commercial Banking, Nuts & Bolts of M&A, Principles of International and Business Taxation, Effective Negotiations, Insurance and Risk Management, Fundamentals of Finance, Accounting and International Accounting.
Since 2008, together with the Universities of Deusto, Tilburg, and Strasbourg, the ILF also offers the Erasmus Mundus „Master in Transnational Trade Law and Finance“, a Master’s program which has received the approval of the European Union.
ILF students are fully enrolled members of Goethe University Frankfurt am Main, which confers the LL.M. Finance and LL.M. International Finance degrees.
Internships.
The LL.M. Finance program incorporates a special four to six weeks' internship with public and private institutions which support the ILF. These institutions typically include leading international law firms, banks, international accounting firms, the European Central Bank, Deutsche Bundesbank, BaFin and others. The ILF internship program offers a valuable opportunity to acquire relevant working experience and to create a network of professional contacts.
International Student Exchange Programs.
The ILF maintains student exchange programs with Columbia Law School, FGV Direito Rio, and Amsterdam Business School.
LL.M. International Finance Program.
In October 2014, a new LL.M. International Finance program for graduates holding a first degree in law, business or economics from Asia (especially mainland China, Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan) was launched. The program offers interdisciplinary and practice-oriented training in the areas of international and European banking, securities and finance law to graduates from Asia.
Spring and Summer Schools.
Every year, the ILF also offers 2-week summer and spring schools. The spring and summer schools are held in the German language.
Faculty.
The ILF faculty consists of both academics as well as practitioners from Europe’s financial world, international law firms and the European Central Bank, the Deutsche Bundesbank (German Central Bank) and BaFin (German Financial Supervisory Authority).
Governing Boards.
The governing boards of the ILF are the Executive Board, Board of Trustees, Academic Advisory Board and the Donors´Committee.
Location.
The ILF is located in the House of Finance at Campus Westend of the Goethe-University Frankfurt am Main.
The House of Finance combines the university's interdisciplinary research on finance, monetary economics, and corporate and financial law under one roof.
The Departments of Finance and Money and Macroeconomics of the Faculty of Economics and Business Administration, and the Unit Law and Finance of the Faculty of Law contribute to the academic reputation of the House of Finance as do the other well-established institutions of the university – the Center for Financial Studies (CFS), the Institute for Law and Finance (ILF), the E-Finance Lab (EFL), the Institute for Monetary and Financial Stability (IMFS) and the Goethe Business School (GBS). The Frankfurt MathFinance Institute (FMFI) is attached to the Faculty of Computer Sciences and Mathematics and associated to the House of Finance through an outlet.