How the MSc Global Central Banking & Financial Regulation impacted my work

Valentina Rusu, a lawyer at the National Bank of Moldova discusses why she chose to study the MSc Global Central Banking & Financial Regulation and how it has already made an impact on her day-to-day work. 

Why the MSc Global Central Banking & Financial Regulation?

I have been an in-house lawyer in a central bank since 2011, and I came across the Global Central Banking qualification opportunity at a moment when I was searching for a comprehensive and trustworthy academic source to broaden my skills and fortify my experience in central banking. That is because in nine years of working in this role I have accumulated a long list of questions and puzzle pieces waiting to be fitted together. 

I once learnt about a law professor who prepared an ingenious exam question for his students: two neighbours were permanently in conflict because the apple tree of the first extended over the blooming tulips of the second, and the falling ripe apples were destroying the fragile flowers. After throwing themselves into meticulous explanations of rigorous solutions, based on codes and regulations, the students learnt the correct answer: apples ripen in the autumn, while tulips bloom in the spring. This story reminds me so well of the situation of a lawyer from the financial sector, who has to be equipped with good knowledge of the financial realities and policy issues.

Indispensable continuous professional development is particularly challenging for a job in a central bank, given, on the one hand, the dynamicity and increasing sophistication of the financial sector and, on the other hand, the increasing amount and complexity of work that cannot be compared with what was applicable 10 years ago, in the same job.

With these inner drives, I embarked on the journey with the MSc Global Central Banking & Financial Regulation. 

Fitting the course in with my life

I would be lying if I were to say that it was easy to study and continue my family and work life, as if nothing new had happened. Having no previous academic financial studies, I struggled a little at the beginning. Of course, this difficulty was not totally unexpected, as this is a post-graduate level course and the volume and complexity of study material corresponds to its level. However, the fact that the course topics and lectures are very interesting and relevant for my daily work helped me to find ways to organise it all. Since I am not a morning person and I dedicate evenings to being a wife and a mother, the flexibility of the distance learning is a great advantage.

Broader vision and enhanced capacity

After arranging how to combine a full-time job and learning, the course, in fact, has become an instrument for simplifying my daily job tasks.

I have learned financial concepts that were new to me, I finally have found some answers to ever-returning questions and had a lot of job projects recalling the regulatory issues highlighted in the course.

Each new piece of course material is built on and enriches the previous material, and so my understanding of the financial sector widens continuously with this course. There are many work situations which allow for taking time to do some research and find an empirically supported solution. Equally, some situations require prompt action and it is particularly in such cases when I feel the usefulness of the course, when I realise that I either have already come across such an issue and reference readings in the course materials or I have the basic directions from where to start the reasoning and further research.

As the finance literature is currently very heterogeneous in research and journal quality, it is very time consuming to do unguided research and then to double-check the source and the conclusions. What I like most about this course is that I learn about the latest thinking and the leading papers, as well as any diverging opinions and critiques. It is really helpful to have readily available organised literature and lecture material on the current issues that are in the attention of scholars and policy makers, along with guidance on avenues for future exploration. 

Looking ahead

Having accomplished three modules, I am now in the process of a job transfer within my central bank, which is an opportunity for expanding my skills and responsibilities, and for advancing my career further.

That said, I am keen to undertake the next three modules, especially the Financial Conduct, Leadership and Ethics, and to gain this valuable qualification.

Find out more about the MSc in Global Central Banking & Financial Regulation.