Course Title: Corporate Crime

MASTER OF LAWS

Course Code: LAW 609

Course Title: Corporate Crime

Instructor : Dr S. Chandra Mohan

Title : Associate Professor (Practice)

Email :

Pre-requisite/CO-REQUISITE/MUTUALLY EXCLUSIVE cOURSE(S)

Nil

COURSE specialisation

Commercial Law

grading BaSIS

Graded

Course UNIT

1 CU

offering term

Academic Year: AY2013/2014

Academic Term: Term 1 (July 2013)

COURSE DESCRIPTION

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

By the end of this course, participants will be able to:

· Identify the major corporate crimes that occur in the corporate world

· Understand the manner in which these offences are committed and the legal ingredients necessary for the prosecution of the offenders

· Know current methods of corporate crime control including international initiatives

· Appreciate the delicate balance which needs to be maintained between sustaining robust corporate activities and ensuring corporate integrity and good governance through sufficient regulation.

COURSE METHODS

SMU’s seminar-style teaching will be employed during the course in respect of the teaching component of the course. This will be supplemented with over-view or introductory lectures. Students will also have opportunities to learn from student presentations, case studies, documentaries and project work. They will also receive instructions on the elements of good research methods and the writing of research papers in preparation for their written assignment.

Recommended Readings

In view of the nature of the course, there is no prescribed text-book to cover the entire course. A detailed lesson plan indicating reading materials and seminar questions will be made available each week. Weekly readings will be indicated on SMU LMS e-learn. Students should also keep abreast of current developments by reading leading business dailies/weeklies like the Asian Wall Street Journal, Far Eastern Economic Review, The Economist and the Business Times. Some reference books and websites that provide useful information are listed below.

Reference Books

(1) David O Friedrichs, Trusted Criminals: White Collar Crime in Contemporary Society, Thomas Higher Education, 2009.

(2) John Minkes and Leonard Minkes, Corporate and White Collar Crime, London : SAGE Publications, 2008.

(3) James J. Gobert & Murice Punch, Rethinking Corporate Crime, (8d ed.), London: Butterworths, 2003.

(4) Halsbury’s Laws of Singapore, vol.17 (2006) on Securities.

(5) A Srivastava, I Mason & A Keltie (eds), A Practioner’s Guide to the Law and Regulation of Financial Crime, London: Sweet & Maxwell, 2010.

(6) Tjio, Hans, Principles and Practice of Securities Regulation in Singapore, Singapore: LexisNexis, 2011(2nd ed.).

Suggested Websites

www.worldbank.org/anticorruption

www.transparency.org

www.oecd.org

www.cpib.gov.sg

www.cad.gov.sg

www.mas.gov.sg

Assessment Method

Class Participation : 20%

Class Presentation: 20%

Individual Written Research Paper : 60%

There will be no written examination at the end of this course. The presentation in Lesson 10 will be based on the written research paper. This will be a 6000 word paper on one aspect of corporate crime selected by the student, after consultation with the instructor, and is due at the end of Lesson 9.

INSTRUCTIONAL MethodS AND EXPECTATIONS

Important: Academic Integrity

All acts of academic dishonesty (including, but not limited to, plagiarism, cheating, fabrication, facilitation of acts of academic dishonesty by others, unauthorized possession of exam questions, or tampering with the academic work of other students) are serious offences.

All work (whether oral or written) submitted for purposes of assessment must be the student’s own work. Penalties for violation of the policy range from zero marks for the component assessment to expulsion, depending on the nature of the offence.

When in doubt, students should consult the instructors of the course. Details onthe SMU Code of Academic Integrity may be accessed athttp://www.smuscd.org/resources.html.

COURSE SCHEDULE

Session / Topic / Readings (tba)
1 / An Introduction to Corporate Crime
-Understanding definitions and concepts
-The problems with corporate crime
-Corporate crime issues
2 /

Research & Writing

-A quick refresher on research and writing / Detailed reading list will be issued each week in a Lesson Plan
3 /

Money-Laundering & Terrorist Financing

- What is meant by “money-laundering”?
-What measures (both legal and administrative) exist to combat money-laundering?
-Who is a “terrorist” and what is “terrorist financing’’?
-Why are special measures needed to contain terrorist financing?
-Case studies
4 /

Corporate Fraud

-What is the meaning of “Fraud”?
-Why is fraud a major global corporate crime?
-What legislative provisions provide for the offence(s) of “fraud”?
-What effective measures are necessary to prevent fraud in the workplace?
-Case studies
5 /

Insider Trading

-The meaning of “Insider” Trading
-The case for criminalization
-The state of the law
-Criminal and Civil Sanctions
-Case studies
6
7
8
9
10 /

Corporate Criminal Liability

-What is the difference between ‘corporate criminals’ and ‘criminal corporates’?
-How does the legislature distinguish these?
-Can corporate entities commit crimes?
-Why should there be corporate criminal liability?
-What is the basis of determining corporate guilt and punishment?
-Case studies
Corruption
-The Meaning of Corruption : Sociological and Legal
-The Problem of Corruption
-Anti-Corruption Laws and their Enforcement:
-Prevention of Corruption Act
-Penal Code
-Anti-Corruption Measures
-Global Anti-Corruption Initiatives
-Why are some countries more corrupt than others?
-Case studies
Cyber Law & Cyber Crime
-What is cyber crime?
-The global challenges of cyber crime
-Combating cyber crime
-Case studies
Security Offences & Regulations
-Other offences under the Securities Futures Act
-Civil sanctions and criminal penalties
-Balancing regulation and corporate creativity
-Case studies
Final Student Presentations / Detailed reading list will be issued each week in a Lesson Plan