The use of a virtual learning environment: The Hong Kong experience

This paper argues for the teaching of ethics in financial services law through blended learning comprising face-to-face and online case studies. It draws on the insights of previous blended teaching in business management and corporate law to provide the justifications for its application in the teaching of ethics in financial services law. The measured success for the use of blended teaching in prior situations, the limitations of existing teaching through the conventional lecture method and the coming through of students increasingly exposed to active-based learning via information communications technology further justifies its application in financial law courses. The paper addresses the why, what and how issues in connection with the teaching of ethics in financial services law. It advocates strongly why teaching of ethics should cover hard and soft laws and even beyond to incorporate the relationships at play in the marketplace to provide more balanced and practical insights for law students. Though the article relies primarily on secondary data, it generated significant implications for the teaching of ethics in financial services law through a pervasive approach in contrast to stand-alone legal ethics courses.