Foundations of U.S. Corporate Law & Practice

The Business Associations topic introduces U.S. laws governing business entities. This topic explores the structure and characteristics of modern business organizations, particularly publicly traded and closely held business corporations. Significant emphasis is placed upon the nature of the corporate governance system and the fiduciary obligations of directors and officers.

Learning outcomes:

1. Develop a basic understanding of core concepts in U.S. corporation law.
2. Demonstrate an understanding and ability to use basic business law vocabulary.

The Corporate Finance subtopic provides a broad overview to introduce learners to the basics. We will review how a company can seek and accept outside investment in order to fuel growth. We will also examine the time value of money and how the tools of finance can help a company decide whether an opportunity is worth pursuing, or decide between alternative opportunities when resource constraints require prioritization. Finally, we will look at how financial instruments may be used as part of a company’s compensation structure to reward and incentivize employees.

Learning outcomes:

1. Develop an understanding of companies’ options with respect to capital structure, including debt versus equity, and different classes of equity.
2. Understand the time value of money and how interest rates are used to compensate for risk. 
3. Learn how financial tools like discounted cash flows and net present value can inform decision making. 
4. Examine how and why companies use compensation to incentivize and retain employees. 

This topic provides an introduction and broad overview of Accounting. We will review the key components of three key financial statements. We will examine double-entry accounting and how that keeps accounts in balance. Finally, we will review two additional topics key to understanding accounting: depreciation and cost of goods sold (COGS). 

Learning outcomes:

1. Review financial statements and identify the key components. 
2. Develop an understanding of double-entry accounting and how it relates to accounting’s fundamental equation. 
3. Develop a basic understanding of why and how long-life assets are depreciated over time. 
4. Understand the differences between the two main inventory costing methods: FIFO and LIFO. 

This topic introduces U.S. laws governing the registration, sale, and antifraud rules applying to securities. We will examine the definition of a "security" under US law, consider how securities are offered privately and in public sales, and review the federal antifraud rules covering securities.

Learning outcomes:

1. Develop a basic understanding of the definition of a security.
2. Demonstrate an understanding of the ways in which companies raise capital through exempt and public offerings.
3. Demonstrate a basic understanding of the federal securities antifraud regime.