MSc Financial Crime and Compliance in Digital Societies (top-up) (blended learning) / Course details

Digital technologies have become central to managing risk and to compliance processes in various business sectors. Those with strategic or managerial responsibilities in organisations need to understand how digital systems and technologies can support regulatory change to create a more efficient business environment, and also to be aware of the vulnerabilities and risks that digital technologies can create. Digital technologies, systems and processes continue to advance, and maximising the benefits of the digital revolution is crucial for the creation of effective compliance policies and practices. However, such rapid changes have also led to new risks, challenges and vulnerabilities.

This unit provides advanced insights into the dynamics between digital technologies, financial crimes and compliance. It examines key concepts and issues related to the emergence of digital technologies and networked systems and their role in modern businesses. It discusses various cyberthreats and different types of financial cybercrime, new and emerging technologies such as cryptocurrencies, and the role of FinTech and RegTech in governance and compliance processes. The unit considers the importance of cybersecurity within organisations and the relationship between cybersecurity and compliance. It identifies the need to ensure workplace cyber/data-security with a view to protecting customer, client and other sensitive data from breaches, as well as the individual security of employees and the potential vulnerabilities that arise at the intersection of human and technical interdependencies. Finally, the unit introduces research-led, state-of-the-art insights into digital vulnerabilities such as processes of misinformation and disinformation in an era of ‘fake news’ and the implications for this for organisations.
 

CRIM70013 FCC Online Condition (Programme 10177)

The unit aims to provide students with advanced knowledge on the dynamics between digital technologies, financial crimes and compliance. It examines key concepts related to the emergence of digital technologies and networked systems, cybersecurity and cyberthreats, misinformation and disinformation, FinTech and RegTech. It will develop understanding of the ways digital technologies can (i) enable financial crime and create compliance risks, and (ii) support financial crime prevention and compliance activity. Finally, it will enable students to critically analyse the benefits and challenges of digital technologies for their own business, sector and/or compliance role, and the role of financial and regulatory technologies in their governance, risk and compliance responses. 

Week 1: Business in a Digital, Hyperconnected World – Key Concepts and Issues
Week 2: Business and Cybersecurity Risks
Week 3: The Digital Underworld of Cyber Threats
Week 4: Financial Cybercrimes – The Threats to Your Business
Week 5: Consolidation Week
Week 6: Keeping your Digital System Safe I
Week 7: Keeping your Digital System Safe II
Week 8: FinTech, Financial Crime and Compliance
Week 9: Misinformation and Disinformation
Week 10: Revision Week
 

Blended learning for distance-learning students, through interactive online learning materials (developed with/supported by Transnational Education (TNE)) and a hybrid weekend ‘Masterclass’ held at UoM and online.

Online asynchronous learning materials include text, videos, reading list, tasks, quizzes and discussion forums. Students can meet course tutors one-on-one for further discussion, guidance, assessment feedback etc (online).

The online Community Area provides a range of resources to help students use the VLE; engage with materials and courses provided by the library; develop their academic skills; and engage with Study Skills workshops. 
 

By the end of the unit, students should be able to:

Explain the role of digital technologies in shaping compliance processes and/or financial crime risks, and differentiate between various types of cyberthreats, financial cybercrimes, and digital vulnerabilities.
 

Critically assess the opportunities and risks presented by digital technologies in compliance and risk management.

Students will recognise business vulnerabilities that emerge in relation to workplace and individual digital security as new technologies are integrated into strategic decision-making and policy creation.

Apply existing models for analysing cyberthreats.  

Communicate the overlaps between digital security and compliance risks.

Critical Commentaries x 4 (1000 words each, all equally weighted)

 

 

Clough, J. (2015). Principles of Cybercrime. Cambridge University Press.

Butler, T. and O’Brien, L. (2019) ‘Understanding RegTech for Digital Regulatory Compliance’, in T. Lynn, J. G. Mooney, P. Rosati and M. Cummins (eds) Disrupting Finance: FinTech and Strategy in the 21st Century, Cham, Switzerland: Palgrave Macmillan pp. 85-102.

Hadnagy, C. (2018) Social Engineering: The Art of Human Hacking (2nd edn.). Indianapolis, IN Wiley Publishing.

Williams, M. L., Levi, M., Burnap, P., & Gundur, R. V. (2019). Under the corporate radar: Examining insider business cybercrime victimization through an application of routine activities theory. Deviant Behavior, 40(9), 1119-1131.

Leukfeldt, E. R., & Yar, M. (2016). Applying routine activity theory to cybercrime: A theoretical and empirical analysis. Deviant Behavior, 37(3), 263-280

Armstrong, P. (2018) Developments in RegTech and SupTech. Paris: European Securities and Market Authority, available at: https://www.esma.europa.eu/sites/default/files/library/esma71-99-1070_speech_on_regtech.pdf

Goldbarsht, D. and de Koker, L. (2022) ‘From Paper Money to Digital Assets: Financial Technology and the Risks of Criminal Abuse’, in D. Goldbarsht and L. de Koker (eds.) Financial Technology and the Law: Combating Financial Crime. Cham: Springer, pp. 1-18.

Benkler, Y., Faris, R., & Roberts, H. (2018). Network propaganda: manipulation, disinformation, and radicalization in American politics. New York, NY: Oxford University Press
 

For Information and advice on Link2Lists reading list software, see: http://www.library.manchester.ac.uk/academicsupport/informationandadviceonlink2listsreadinglistsoftware/