Course 2026-2027 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

• Lectures
• Guest speaker's talks (in class or in distance)
• Collaborative Works / 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 2-4 people on an assigned topic, which shall be the object of a) a written essay (5.000-10.000 words) and b) an oral defense/debate of 20 min.

–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

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

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

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 submitting their answer(s) (max 200 words each) through Blackboard within the end of the week

–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 via Bboard

–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 written essay and the oral defense/discussion (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

–a written essay on the task (whose structure -e.g. paper/legal opinion- would be freely chosen by each group) shall be delivered no later than 3 days before the defense/debate

–each group shall defend the work during an oral discussion/debate with the whole classroom

–assessment will take into account both the written and the oral 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 a written exam, with two mandatory open questions (each one to be chosen in a couple) on the course topics (90 mins., no space limits): 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 a written exam (90 mins.) 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 lessons/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.