Our Goals

Well-trained specialists in banking and capital markets enjoy excellent opportunities for professional advancement, especially in today’s financial and business capitals. The ILF was designed to furnish that precise training to its students to allow them to benefit from such opportunities. We provide our students with a springboard for their careers in international corporations, banks, law firms, accounting and auditing firms. In addition to its primary goal of providing excellent education to students from all over the world, the ILF also prides itself on its role as a leading Research and Policy Center.

Teaching

Since 2002, the ILF has been offering a Master of Laws in Finance (LL.M. Finance) degree program on a comparative law and interdisciplinary basis to highly-qualified graduates of law or business/ economics from Germany and overseas. Since October 2014, the ILF offers a second LL.M. program, namely Master of Laws in International Banking, Securities and Finance (LL.M. International Finance) which is a program aimed at graduates from Asia. Courses in both these highly-specialised programs are conducted entirely in the English language.

Our postgraduate law degree programs are offered along the lines of law programs found at British and American law schools and are aimed at students interested in combining theoretical knowledge and practical training in the specialized fields of law and international finance. Both LL.M. programs at the ILF distinguish themselves by focusing the interdisciplinary courses on the special skills needed by both legal and finance professionals engaging in the field of international finance.

Our faculty consists of both prominent academics and practitioners. Highly-reputable law and economic professors from Goethe University Frankfurt, all of whom have impressive international experience, as well as guest professors from abroad and partners from major international law firms, experts from central and commercial banks as well as regulatory bodies and auditing companies are here to transfer their knowledge and expertise to our students.

The faculty-student ratio is excellent and our small classes ensure close direct contact between faculty and students. In order to provide an elite course of study with practical orientation, the ILF limits its admissions to about 50 students in the LL.M. Finance program and 30 students in the LL.M. International Finance program each year so as to ensure academic excellence as well as direct and personal contact.

In the LL.M. Finance program, all our students have the opportunity to apply the knowledge acquired during the program and also make professional contacts by doing 7 to 8 weeks' internships with our sponsors. In the LL.M. International Finance program, internships may be available on a voluntary basis. In addition, the ILF has cooperation agreements for student exchanges with Columbia Law School, Boston University School of Law and FGV Direito Rio.

Every year, the ILF also offers 2-week summer and spring schools. Experts from law firms and banks from the long list of ILF’s sponsors provide an intensive insight into the practical issues involved in the law of banking and capital markets and company law to about 40 pre-selected legal trainees.   

Research

Beyond the primary goal of teaching, the ILF is also a center of competence for research and policy-making in the areas of law and international finance by conducting and facilitating research in areas such as corporate, securities and banking law. The ILF continuously publishes working papers and has its own ILF Book Series, particularly in the areas of German and international securities and company law, corporate finance, and banking law.

In addtion, numerous faculty publications can also be found in these areas of interest.

Policy Center

The ILF promotes the constant exchange of ideas between academics, regulatory bodies, credit institutions and the legal community. Regular series of conferences and guest lectures on topical issues related to international business and the financial markets are delivered at the ILF by leading academics from all over the world. Speakers include university professors from Germany and abroad as well as representatives from regulatory bodies, corporations, organisations, and legal firms.

These lectures are open to the public and are regularly attended by ILF students, academics as well as legal and finance professionals.