Florida Banking February 2022

ORGANIC AND PLANNED EVOLUTION – FSU COLLEGE OF LAW JURIS MASTER IN FINANCIAL REGULATION

BY SUSAN BOWERS, JURIS MASTER PROGRAM ADVISOR, FLORIDA STATE UNIVERSITY COLLEGE OF LAW

F SU College of Law Juris Master program entered its fifth year in the fall of 2021. Since its launch the program has continued to thrive on the foundation of an evolving curriculum and faculty, and highly committed, outstanding students. The program was designed to keep pace with emerging challenges in the dynamic business and regulatory environments of banks and other financial institutions. In this update, we focus on how the JM program addresses emerging issues and highlights the program’s focus on the critical issues banks face with intensifying risks related to cybersecurity and privacy. Evolving and Flexible Curriculum The JM curriculum was created with input from professionals in the field and the FBA FSU Juris Master advisory board. It continues to develop with input from active professionals, including adjunct faculty and students. Students’ insights into regulatory and risk management challenges are incorporated into the program, keeping the curriculum current and relevant. In introductory assignments students identify three “hot topics” related to regulatory, compliance, and risk management issues covered in their course. Students’ input is reflected in course topics and assignments, as well as the addition of new classes. Most students in the JM program are working professionals. Because JM courses provide a deep dive into the legal and regulatory underpinning of their field, students are learning while doing. This integration of studies and work, through which students apply new knowledge and skills immediately makes learning deeper and more effective. The usual way of creating curriculum is top down, directed by professors and the school. There is important pedagogical value to this approach. However, how does one create a curriculum for a very diverse student body — diverse in their roles and responsibilities and the types of institutions for which they work, as well as their personal and professional backgrounds? For the JM program,

the answer, most importantly, is to maintain a flexible curriculum that can address the varied career goals of our students. We ask students both in their applications and on an ongoing basis during advising meetings, about their short-term and long-term goals with respect to the JM program. Their responses and our dialogue inform their course selection to maximize their ability to reach those goals. When students change positions or add responsibilities the flexibility of the program enables them to shift their studies to focus on updated goals. JM Students are Keeping Pace with Cybersecurity, Privacy, and Technology Risk Management in Financial Regulation From the outset, we knew that we would include a robust curriculum focusing on cybersecurity and privacy issues, as these are among the most difficult risks that banks are facing. In the past year, we have updated existing courses and added new courses with specialized focus on cybersecurity and privacy, as well as data analytics and technology risk management. The courses provide deep and detailed knowledge of the legal and regulatory dimensions of these matters as well as technical knowledge and critical skills to analyze and develop recommendations concerning inherent complex policy and practical considerations. Courses include Financial Privacy and Cybersecurity; Cybersecurity: Implementing Policies and Procedures; Cybersecurity Breach Response; Intellectual Property Risk Management; and Data Analytics. Data analytics are used increasingly by financial institutions for compliance purposes as well as to make business decisions with respect to lending, credit ratings, capital requirements, trading, market-based decisions, and strategic client portfolio choices. Regulators in turn use required data submissions not only to identify non-complying institutions but also to develop new data requirements for the regulated institutions, fueling

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