Course 2020-2021 a.y.

• Understanding white-collar crime: historical foundations and current trends
• Offenders, victims and the socio-economic costs of white-collar crime
• Ambiguities of white-collar crime from moral and economic perspectives
• Corporate crime self-detection: whistleblowing
• Offences related to the financial system: money laundering and terrorism financing
• Market abuse/securities fraud: insider trading and market manipulation

• understand the notion of white-collar crime
• distinguish white-collar crime from other misconduct
• know the structure of core white-collar offences and the legal framework aimed at preventing/combating them
• identify the most appropriate public and private policies to fight white-collar crime

• identify the features of white-collar crime
• assess the effectiveness of white-collar crime detection and prevention policies
• evaluate a white-collar crime case from a criminological and legal perspective
• apply concepts and theories of white-collar crime and communicate these to specialists and non-specialists

• Face-to-face lectures
• Online lectures
• Case studies /Incidents (traditional, online)
• Group assignments

–students will be invited to read the materials uploaded every week onto the course e-learning platform (Blackboard) and think about a number of legal questions before lessons

–starting from the second week, each topic will be introduced by the teacher and discussed with the students, taking into account the materials previously uploaded

–several lessons will be structured as proper classes (rather than lectures) where students will be invited to read some case law or other materials, present the case and participate in a debate

–each student who attends lessons is expected to work in a group of 2-3 people on an assigned topic, which shall be the object of a) an oral presentation of 20 min. and b) a written essay (5.000-10.000 words)

–the oral presentation of each group (where every member has to talk, sharing the time equally) will be discussed with the whole class

–there will be up to 6 groups (or more), composed on a voluntary basis before the mid-semester break

–the tasks will be assigned to each group by the end of October

–oral presentations will take place in the last two weeks of the course

–each group will have to deliver the due written essay no later than 3 days after the oral presentation

a) individual participation in discussions/debates during lessons: up to 3 ‘bonus’ points to round up their final grade

–starting from the second week, half a point will be awarded to students making good oral contributions during each lesson or submitting their answers (max 200 words) by e-mail within the end of the lesson

–relevant criteria for this evaluation are a) knowledge of the materials uploaded onto the e-learning platform and b) ability to develop personal standpoints and elaborate solutions to the issues discussed

–the names of the students who get the 0.5 points will be announced by the teacher at the beginning of the following week

–each student will have the chance to get up to 3 points during the whole course

b) group performance in the assignment, on the basis of both the oral presentation, the subsequent discussion and the written essay (same grade for all group members!): up to 12 points

–the task: each group will be asked to analyze and discuss with the class a white-collar crime issue

–each group is free to decide how to organize the oral presentation

–a written paper on the task, taking into account suggestions and criticisms raised during the discussion in the classroom, shall be delivered no later than 3 days after the presentation

–assessment will take into account both the oral and the written performance

–relevant criteria for the assessment: covering all the relevant  materials, ability to critically address the issues thereto, logical order and clarity of exposition

c) individual performance in an oral exam, with two open questions on the course topics (approx. 15 minutes): up to 18 points

–relevant criteria for the assessment: knowledge and ability to explain the theoretical framework of white-collar crime taking into account also the cases discussed during the course, logical order and clarity of exposition

The final grade will derive from the sum of these three partial marks. Decimals will be rounded up to the higher whole number.

Assessed on the basis of an oral exam (approx. 20 minutes) with 3 open questions about the course topics:

–relevant criteria for the assessment: knowledge and ability to explain the theoretical framework of white-collar crime taking into account also the cases included in the course materials, logical order and clarity of exposition

Students are provided with all the relevant materials (including slides used during classes) for discussions, group assignments and the final exam via the Bboard platform. A detailed list of reading materials (book chapters, articles, etc.) is included in the course Syllabus.