BUILD CUTTING EDGE SKILLS TO SUCCEED in the dynamic and rapidly growing BUSINESS LAW COMPLIANCE market by taking a deep dive into corporate, financial services, and ESG compliance laws and regulations, compliance strategies, and skills-based training.

Covering one of the fastest-growing areas of business law, the Compliance and Ethics Certificate enables students with a special interest in business law to earn a certificate that provides a core competency and a deeper understanding of compliance laws and regulations. Students learn how to adopt and implement successful corporate compliance strategies as they acquire knowledge and skills in the legal, regulatory, and ethical framework undergirding compliance.  

Compliance, especially now, is a critical component of how companies, organizations, and institutions function. Due to the ever-increasing complexity of laws and regulations, increased liability, and ethics concerns, compliance expertise is increasingly sought by law firms, corporations, and government agencies, as well as public interest, charitable, and other organizations. The Compliance and Ethics Certificate provides skills that are an integral part of business law practice, giving you a leg up on your career path.

The certificate offers you the opportunity to choose from three tracks in dynamic areas of business law. You can focus on the curriculum best suited to your interests and career goals: the Corporate Compliance and Ethics Certificate, the Financial Institutions Compliance and Ethics Certificate, and the new ESG Compliance and Ethics Certificate.

Corporate Compliance and Ethics Certificate

This certificate provides you with a core competency and deeper understanding of corporate compliance laws and regulations, focusing on the relevant legal, regulatory, and ethical framework. You will also learn about compliance programs and strategies and will receive skills-based training. 

Financial Institutions Compliance and Ethics Certificate 

This certificate provides you with a core competency and deeper understanding of financial institutions compliance laws and regulations, focusing on the relevant legal, regulatory and ethical framework, including the regulation of financial institutions, risk management, special corporate governance, regulatory compliance, and ethical considerations. You will also learn about compliance programs and strategies and will receive skills-based training.

ESG Compliance and Ethics Certificate

This certificate provides you with a core competency and deeper understanding of Environmental, Social, and Governance laws and regulations, focusing on the relevant legal, regulatory, and ethical framework. You will also learn about compliance programs and strategies and will receive skills-based training. 

Certificate Requirements
 

To earn any certificate, students must complete a total of 18 credits within the designated curriculum. All students wishing to receive either the Corporate Compliance and Ethics Certificate or the Financial Institutions Compliance and Ethics Certificate must complete two courses: Business Associations and Business Law & Ethics. Students wishing to receive the ESG Compliance and Ethics Certificate must complete Business Associations and at least one additional course in each of the three ESG fields: environmental law (E), social and labor values such as human rights (S), and corporate governance (G).
 
All three compliance and ethics certificate tracks offer you a choice of electives, clinics, and externships focused on these dynamic compliance areas. 

Compliance and Ethics Certificate Courses:

 
Two Required Courses (for the Corporate and Financial Institutions Tracks)
1.  Business Associations
2.  Business Law & Ethics
 
Required Courses for the ESG Track
1.  Business Associations
2.  At least one additional course in each of the three ESG fields (discussed below)
 

Choose One Compliance Specialization

Corporate Compliance

• Corporate Compliance and Ethics
• International Business and Human Rights
• Private Equity and Venture Capital
• Anti-Corruption Law
• Deals
• Legal Drafting: Corporate
• Legal Drafting: Contracts
• International Contracts and Sales
• Corporate Bankruptcy
• Corporate Governance
• Securities Regulation
• The Community and Economic Development Clinic (7 credits maximum)
• The Entrepreneurship Law Clinic (7 credits maximum)
• Externships
• Antitrust Law
• Corporate Finance
• Mergers and Acquisitions
• White Collar Crime

Financial Institutions and Compliance

• Securities Regulation
• Banking and Financial Institutions: US Regulation
• Banking and Financial Institutions: International Regulation
• Regulation of Derivatives
• Consumer Financial Services Law
• International Business and Human Rights
• Business, Finance and Accounting for Lawyers
• Virtual Currency
• Financial Crimes Compliance
• Legal Drafting: Corporate Asset Management
• Externships
• Secured Transactions
• Development, Finance, World Bank, and IFIs
• Taxation of Business Entities
• The United States Trade Regime
• International Business Transactions
• Government Contracts
• Bankruptcy and Creditors' Rights

ESG Compliance

• Environmental Law
  • environmental law, environmental justice and community lawyering, climate change and the law, international environmental law, human rights and the environment, international business and the environment, administrative law, energy law.
• Social / Human Rights
  • human rights and international business, international human rights, international trafficking in persons, asylum & refugee law, disability rights law, gender, cultural differences & human rights law, race and the law, international gender social policy and law, professional ethics and the holocaust, international human rights and terrorism, torture prohibition in international law, employment discrimination, labor law.
• Governance
  • business law compliance and ethics, corporate compliance and ethics, corporate governance, anti-corruption law, community economic and equity development law, law of nonprofit organizations, securities regulation, US and international banking and financial institutions, international investment law, corporate finance.

The certificate program is open to all J.D. and LL.M. students in good standing.

If you are a JD or LL.M. student and wish to apply to the CEC program, please email blpinfo@wcl.american.edu with the completed application form. After your application is processed, we will be in touch with next steps. 
For any questions about the certificate program, contact Professor V. Gerard Comizio, Associate Director of Business Law Programs at (202) 294-4915 or comizio@wcl.american.edu.