Overview
This course examines the legal, regulatory, ethical, and operational foundations of compliant commodity trading across physical markets, derivatives, and algorithmic trading environments. It considers the roles and responsibilities of exchanges, clearing houses, regulators, brokers, trading firms, compliance officers, and market-surveillance teams, with attention to variation across jurisdictions.
Students analyze market abuse and manipulation, including attempted manipulation, spoofing, layering, wash trades, front-running, insider dealing, misuse of confidential information, benchmark misconduct, conflicts of interest, position-limit breaches, and large-trader reporting failures. The course also addresses recordkeeping, communications monitoring, employee dealing, whistleblowing, sanctions, anti-bribery controls, know-your-counterparty procedures, suspicious-activity escalation, and cross-market conduct.
Through case analysis, simulated investigations, and compliance exercises, students distinguish legitimate trading from prohibited conduct, interpret internal policies and regulatory obligations, document findings, recommend preventive and detective controls, and make ethically defensible decisions under commercial and operational pressure.
Learning Outcomes
- Analyze the legal, regulatory, ethical, and operational responsibilities of key participants in commodity markets.
- Distinguish legitimate trading strategies from market abuse, manipulation, attempted manipulation, and other prohibited conduct.
- Evaluate trading activity involving physical commodities, derivatives, algorithmic orders, and cross-market transactions for conduct risks and regulatory breaches.
- Identify red flags associated with spoofing, layering, wash trades, front-running, insider information, benchmark manipulation, conflicts of interest, and reporting failures.
- Interpret applicable policies, exchange rules, regulatory obligations, position limits, large-trader reporting requirements, and recordkeeping standards across differing jurisdictions.
- Document a structured compliance investigation by preserving evidence, assessing facts, recording rationale, and escalating suspicious activity appropriately.
- Design preventive and detective controls addressing communications, employee dealing, know-your-counterparty processes, sanctions, anti-bribery risks, and trade surveillance.
- Recommend ethically defensible courses of action when commercial objectives conflict with legal, regulatory, or professional obligations.
Timetable
| Type | Length | Frequency | Period |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lecture | 2 hours | Weekly | All semester |
| Tutorial | 1 hour | Weekly | All semester |
| Workshop | 2 hours | Fortnightly | All semester |
| Practicum | 2 hours | Fortnightly | Second term |
Assessment Schedule
| Type | Description | Weighting |
|---|---|---|
| Assignment | Regulatory framework and market-conduct analysis | 20.00% |
| Quiz | Compliance principles quizzes (4 × 2.5%) | 10.00% |
| Tutorial | Scenario analysis and participation | 15.00% |
| Deliverable | Trade-surveillance investigation file | 20.00% |
| Test | Mid-semester applied compliance test | 15.00% |
| Exam | Final case-based examination | 20.00% |
Prerequisites
- Requirement Prior study in business law, economics, finance, or a related discipline at second-year university level.
Teaching Staff & Programs
This course is delivered jointly by faculty from the participating programs listed below. In line with the Douchewater Way, the University of Sexology tailors core instruction directly to each cohort's specific discipline — adapting curriculum to program needs rather than forcing students into a one-size-fits-all model. Learn more about our approach at The Douchewater Way.
