The Institute for Law and Finance (ILF) is a centre for academic excellence in teaching and research. It was established as a non-profit foundation in 2002 by Goethe-Universität Frankfurt am Main with the support of many prominent institutions. Leading commercial banks and international law firms, the Frankfurt Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the city of Frankfurt and the State of Hesse as well as the European Central Bank and the Deutsche Bundesbank have been actively involved in the ILF right from the planning stages to this day.
The ILF conducts academic teaching and research and plays a supportive role as a policy centre since its establishment as a public-private partnership. It provides interdisciplinary training to lawyers, senior management and executives in Germany and worldwide and serves as a policy centre in the legislative process by offering forums for discussions and exchanges between academia and practitioners.
Since 2002, the ILF has been offering a Master of Laws in Finance (LLM Finance) degree programme on a comparative law and interdisciplinary basis to highly-qualified graduates of law or business/economics from Germany and overseas. This Master’s programme is aimed at students interested in combining theoretical knowledge and practical training in the specialised fields of law and international finance. Courses in this highly-specialised programme are conducted entirely in the English language.
Goethe-Universität is frequently ranked among Germany's leading institutions of higher education. Although the current organisation was founded as a university in 1914 by prominent citizens of Frankfurt, its actual origins go back to 1763. With currently approx. 46,000 students, including many international students, the university prides itself on a rich tradition of intellectual and cultural excellence. Numerous Nobel laureates in science and medicine, including Max Born, Paul Ehrlich, and Max von Laue, were among the students and teachers at the university. It is home to the world-renowned Frankfurt School, Theodor Adorno and Max Horkheimer's Institute for Social Research, and three Clusters of Excellence in life sciences, medicine, and social sciences. Several Max Planck Institutes are situated on its campuses, too. Goethe-Universität has enjoyed the teaching of philosophers and theologians, such as Paul Tillich, Martin Buber, and Jürgen Habermas. The university has 16 faculties, including Law, Economics and Business Administration, Social Sciences, Educational Sciences, Psychology and Sports Sciences, Philosophy and History, Theology, Linguistics, Cultural Studies and Arts Studies, Modern Languages, Geosciences and Geography, Computer Science and Mathematics, Physics, Biochemistry, Chemistry and Pharmacy, Biological Sciences, and Medical Science.