The intensive 4-week Legal and Management Training Program for our LL.M. International Finance students held from 13 February to 10 March 2023 started off with a 3-day field trip to Bonn, a city located on the Rhine with its historical beauty and cultural heritage. Bonn is the former capital of Deutschland and still plays an important role in holding the financial and regulatory system of Germany together.
After arrival in Bonn, the first visit was to Deutsche Telekom, one of the largest telecommunication companies in the world. Hosted by Dr. Sophie Barends, Senior Legal Counsel and her colleagues, our students had an exposure to the latest developments of their sustainable development policies largely covering the latest ESG revolution taking the world by storm. Our students were further provided a peek into the gold standard of data protection and privacy measures taken by Deutsche Telekom.
On the second day in the morning sunshine, our students were welcomed by Ms. Lea Püschel, Public Relations, and Dr. Jonas Severin Frank, Deputy Spokesperson, at the Bundeskartellamt (the Federal Cartel Office). The Bundeskartellamt is critical for merger control and competition regulation in Germany. Our students learned about the practical challenges regarding the implementation of regulation, such as the requirement for insiders or whistleblowers, investigation, and enforcement.
After a short break with lunch packages prepared by the ILF, our students visited the head office of BaFin (Federal Financial Supervisory Authority), an authority that regulates financial instruments, markets and institutions. Mr. Peter Kruschel, Head of Technical Cooperation and Bilateral Affairs, and Dr. Robert Elsen, Financial Counsellor, gave our students important insights into the functions of BaFin – its structure, scope, and enforcement at a conference room at the BaFin premises in Bonn Graurheindorfer Straße.
On the third day, our students made a visit to the Beethoven-Haus, the museum located at Ludwig van Beethoven's birth place! In addition to the interesting visits during the 3 days, our students could enjoy walking along the riverside of the River Rhein and sitting on the meadows in front of the university of Bonn and basking in the beautiful sunshine.
All in all, visiting Bonn was an enriching experience for our LL.M. International Finance students and we hope that they enjoyed the 3-day trip while learning more about the multiple facets of law, finance, economics, history and culture!
