Irina Shustova
Corporate Finance and Law, LLM or MSc
Introduction
With both an LLM and MSc exit qualification available, this programme is delivered jointly by the University of Aberdeen's School of Law and Business School, and will provide students with an interdisciplinary learning experience in Finance and Law.
Study Information
Study Options
- Learning Mode
- On Campus Learning
- Degree Qualification
- LLM or MSc
- Duration
- 12 months or 24 months
- Study Mode
- Full Time or Part Time
- Start Month
- January or September
- Location of Study
- Aberdeen
With both an LLM and MSc exit qualification available, this is a unique opportunity to benefit from the expertise of staff from both the School of Law and the Business School. This programme has a practical and commercial focus and will appeal to those employed in or with an interest in commercial and professional services, within the legal and financial communities.
Students can choose the most suitable route to follow depending on their own individual career aspirations. Students will learn about key issues in Corporate Finance and Law, providing them with the skills and expertise that they require in this fascinating, important and remunerative area.
This programme offers particular benefits to SMEs by developing skills and knowledge of both the legal and financial markets. Students will gain an insight into finance for SMEs and also raising finance for the stock market.
This degree is open to people from any discipline and will provide students with an interdisciplinary learning experience in Finance and Law.
Available Programmes of Study
Students will be expected to complete four Law focused courses and four Business focused courses, finalising their study with the dissertation. The courses you will study are: Issues in Corporate Finance, Accounting, Introduction to Corporate Finance Law, Corporate Governance for Corporate Finance, Portfolio Analysis, Financial Analysis and Markets, Debt Finance Law, Equity Finance Law. The dissertation will be on either a legal or financial topic.
Please note: Students staring their LLM programme in January write their Dissertation project during the Summer semester.
Duration: 12 months full-time or 24 or 36 months part-time
- LLM
-
Corporate Finance and Law
Qualification Duration Learning Mode Study Mode Start Month LocationLLM 12 months or 24 months On Campus Learning Full Time or Part Time September Aberdeen MoreLLM 12 months or 24 months On Campus Learning Full Time or Part Time January Aberdeen MoreProgramme Fees
Fee information Fee category Cost EU / International students £27,000 Tuition Fees for 2024/25 Academic Year UK £15,700 Tuition Fees for 2024/25 Academic Year Semester 1
PART TIME ROUTE: This route will take between two to three years.
Year 1
PD5506 Getting Started at the University of Aberdeen (0 credit points)
LS551T Critical Legal Thinking and Scholarship (0 credit points)
BU5526 Portfolio Analysis (15 credit points)
BU5034 Issues in Corporate Finance (15 credit points)
LS504H Corporate Finance Law (30 credit points)
Year 2
BU5575 Financial Analysis and Markets (15 credit points)
LS5582 Corporate Governance (30 credit points)
LS5904 LLM Dissertation (60 credit points)
BU5031 Accounting (15 credit points)
Compulsory Courses
- Getting Started at the University of Aberdeen (PD5506)
-
This course, which is prescribed for all taught postgraduate students, is studied entirely online, takes approximately 5-6 hours to complete and can be taken in one sitting, or spread across a number of weeks.
Topics include orientation overview, equality and diversity, health, safety and cyber security and how to make the most of your time at university in relation to careers and employability.
Successful completion of this course will be recorded on your Enhanced Transcript as ‘Achieved’.
- Critical Legal Thinking and Scholarship (LS551T)
-
This course provides students from diverse legal and educational backgrounds with a common understanding of the core research, analytical, and writing skills which will be required for LLM-Taught courses. The course is delivered as a series of five interactive lectures with two individual assessments designed to encourage critical thinking and provide opportunities for early feedback. It also incorporates a library workshop to provide students with hands-on experience with the resources available for course and dissertation work.
- Portfolio Analysis (BU5526)
-
15 Credit Points
This course examines theories and issues relevant to portfolio analysis. Themes include: risk and return; investment motives; the application of modern portfolio theory (including the Capital Asset Pricing Model); information and market efficiency; portfolio analysis and asset pricing; bonds and equities; real estate and derivative markets.
- Financial Analysis and Markets (BU5575)
-
15 Credit Points
Like football, this course is a game of two halves. The first half is financial analysis and builds your ability to analyse companies and think about the implications of financial performance for investors. We will be using Datastream and Bloomberg software. In the second half we will think about how stock markets work and how they are regulated.
- Corporate Governance (LS5582)
-
30 Credit Points
This course will discuss the trajectory of the development of corporate governance over the past three decades, especially in the UK and the US, with a view to understanding the extent to which underlying theoretical assumptions and policy decisions impact legislative, regulatory and self-regulatory arrangements as well as reform options. Students will gain an understanding of why the company as a legal entity has the shape and form that it does; why certain actors are regarded as internal to corporate governance arrangements and others external; and why ongoing (and sometimes apparently futile) reform efforts take the form that they do.
Semester 2
Optional Courses
- Master of Laws Dissertation (LS5904)
-
60 Credit Points
Between May and mid-August students prepare a 10,000 word dissertation on a topic of their choice related to their specialist LLM programme. Students are instructed through the delivery of a preparatory lecture, two supervisory meetings and a two hour dissertation planning workshop in a small group setting. Students are expected to spend considerable time on independent research throughout the course of the dissertation module, including; preparation of dissertation plan, amendment of plan in accordance with supervisory comments, preparation for the dissertation workshop, and, of course, in the final 10,000 word dissertation itself.
Semester 3
Compulsory Courses
- Accounting (BU5031)
-
15 Credit Points
Students will gain an understanding of what financial information is for and how it is controlled by government, the stock exchanges and other institutions. Students will explore financial accounting assumptions and conventions. They will develop their technical knowledge and skills to enable them to record business transactions and prepare financial statements. Finally, students will be introduced to financial statement analysis and the calculation of key metrics. This will allow them to explore how accounting information is used by stock market participants and the impact on users of current developments and issues in accounting practice, governance and standards.
- Issues in Corporate Finance (BU5034)
-
15 Credit Points
This course introduces students to basic financial concepts before moving on to introduce students to a number of areas of corporate finance including investment appraisal decisions, examining capital structure theory, the financing decisions of the firm, and corporate restructuring. The main aim of the course is to equip students with good analytical skills in order to understand the implications of corporate financing decisions by understanding why companies behave the way they do with respect to financing choices and how this interacts with the real world financial markets, and to enable students to understand the theoretical underpinnings of corporate finance theory.
- Corporate Finance Law (LS504H)
-
30 Credit Points
This course will explore issues within the law of corporate finance, with reference to different legal systems. It will provide students with a wider and deeper understanding of various debt and equity finance issues that are crucial to the law of corporate finance.
- MSc
-
Corporate Finance and Law
Qualification Duration Learning Mode Study Mode Start Month LocationMSc 12 months On Campus Learning Full Time September Aberdeen MoreMSc 24 months On Campus Learning Part Time September Aberdeen MoreMSc 12 months On Campus Learning Full Time January Aberdeen MoreMSc 24 months On Campus Learning Part Time January Aberdeen MoreProgramme Fees
Fee information Fee category Cost UK £15,700 Tuition Fees for 2024/25 Academic Year EU / International students £26,250 Tuition Fees for 2025/26 Academic Year
We will endeavour to make all course options available. However, these may be subject to change - see our Student Terms and Conditions page.
Fee Information
Additional Fee Information
- Fees for individual programmes can be viewed in the Programmes section above.
- In exceptional circumstances there may be additional fees associated with specialist courses, for example field trips. Any additional fees for a course can be found in our Catalogue of Courses.
- For more information about tuition fees for this programme, including payment plans and our refund policy, please visit our Tuition Fees page.
Funding Opportunities
The University of Aberdeen provides an Alumni Discount Scheme:
The University of Aberdeen is very pleased to offer a 20% discount on postgraduate tuition fees for all alumni who have graduated with a degree from the University of Aberdeen. More Information can be found here.
Scholarships
Self-funded international students enrolling on Postgraduate Taught (PGT) programmes for January 2025 will receive one of our Aberdeen Global Scholarships, ranging from £3,000 to £8,000, depending on your domicile country. Learn more about these Aberdeen Global Scholarships here.
From September 2025 all eligible self-funded international Postgraduate Masters students will receive an £8,000 scholarship. Learn more about this Aberdeen Global Scholarship here.
To see our full range of scholarships, visit our Funding Database.
How You'll Study
Assessment Methods
Throughout the course, a mix of coursework, exams and a dissertation is used as the basis of assessment.
Why Study Corporate Finance and Law?
By bringing together students from both financial and legal backgrounds, each student will benefit from peer-led learning and will have a rich context experience, gaining an in-depth understanding of both the financial and legal sectors and how they interconnect.
Ranked 4th in the UK for Accounting and Finance in the Guardian University Guide 2025 and Top 10 in the UK for Law, by the Times & Sunday Times Good University Guide 2024.
Taught by top legal and business academics, who are shaping national and international policy, for example in regulation and the energy sector.
The Centre for Commercial Law fosters research excellence in commercial law and offers unique research activities by serving as a dynamic hub for law academics, legal practitioners, those working in related professions, industry representatives, activists and policymakers, providing opportunities for synergy and rich engagement.
Professional training facilities are also available including the Bloomberg finance lab, used by major financial services companies across the world and integrating real activity in financial markets directly into our students’ courses.
What Our Students Say
Euan Price
Entry Requirements
Open to people with a degree in any discipline, a law degree is not a requirement for the LLM. Likewise a finance degree is not a requirement for the MSc.
Those with a background in Accounting, Management, Maths, Engineering, Finance, Economics, Banking or similar will be considered.
Qualifications
The information below is provided as a guide only and does not guarantee entry to the University of Aberdeen.
The minimum entry requirements for this programme is a degree at 2:1 (upper second class) UK Honours level (or a degree from a non-UK institution which is judged by the University to be of equivalent worth).
Please enter your country to view country-specific entry requirements.
English Language Requirements
To study for a Postgraduate Taught degree at the University of Aberdeen it is essential that you can speak, understand, read, and write English fluently. The minimum requirements for this degree are as follows:
IELTS Academic:
OVERALL - 6.5 with: Listening - 5.5; Reading - 5.5; Speaking - 5.5; Writing - 6.0
TOEFL iBT:
OVERALL - 90 with: Listening - 17; Reading - 18; Speaking - 20; Writing - 21
PTE Academic:
OVERALL - 62 with: Listening - 59; Reading - 59; Speaking - 59; Writing - 59
Cambridge English B2 First, C1 Advanced, C2 Proficiency:
OVERALL - 176 with: Listening - 162; Reading - 162; Speaking - 162; Writing - 169
Read more about specific English Language requirements here.
Document Requirements
You will be required to supply the following documentation with your application as proof you meet the entry requirements of this degree programme. If you have not yet completed your current programme of study, then you can still apply and you can provide your Degree Certificate at a later date.
- Degree Transcript
- a full transcript showing all the subjects you studied and the marks you have achieved in your degree(s) (original & official English translation)
- Personal Statement
- a detailed personal statement explaining your motivation for this particular programme
Aberdeen Global Scholarship
Eligible self-funded Postgraduate Taught (PGT) students will receive the Aberdeen Global Scholarship. Explore our Global Scholarships, including eligibility details, on our dedicated pages.
January 2025 September 2025Careers
Successful students will benefit from an appeal to employers with a need for individuals with the interdisciplinary skills of Law and Finance within the same role.
We have 83,500 alumni across 192 countries. Some of our alumni work in top positions such as Chief Financial Officer for GSK, Former CEO for Aberdeen Standard Investments, and Chief Operating Officer for Hasberg Global Investors.
Accreditation
The Business School is EQUIS accredited, placing it among a select group of globally recognised institutions. Out of over 15,000 business schools worldwide, only around 200 schools across 45 countries have attained this distinction.
This degree holds accreditation from
Our Experts
You will be taught by and have access to a number of experts, many of whom are internationally renowned within their respective fields. These will include members of the Centre for Commercial Law alongside experts from the Business School.
- Programme Coordinators
- Dr Alisdair MacPherson
- Dr Daniel Gyimah
Information About Staff Changes
You will be taught by a range of experts including professors, lecturers, teaching fellows and postgraduate tutors. However, these may be subject to change - see our Student Terms and Conditions page.
Get in Touch
Contact Details
- Address
-
School of Law
University of Aberdeen
Taylor Building
Aberdeen
AB24 3UB