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Knowledge
K3 — Business Law
K3 Business Law moves law from Applied Skills down to Knowledge level. The Global variant covers the essential legal framework for business: contract law, employment law, company law, and an introduction to governance, ethics and data protection. Jurisdiction-specific variants (UK/ENG, etc.) are also available.
FormatCBE · 2 hours · 100 marks
Pass Mark50%
Legacy PaperLW (F4) — Corporate and Business Law
Sections6 sections (A, B, C, D, E, F)
Current-syllabus equivalentOur paper mapping links K3 to LW — Corporate and Business Law. The current structure's last sitting is June 2027.
Transition Planner Exam Format
Section A: 45 × 2-mark OTs (90 marks) · Section B: 1 × 10-mark MTQ (10 marks) · 2 hours · 100 marks
Key Changes vs Legacy Paper
- Moved from Applied Skills (LW/F4) to Knowledge level
- New Section F: Corporate Governance, Ethics and Data Protection including GDPR
- Exam format changes: 45 OTs + 1 MTQ (vs LW's 70 OTs + 5 MTQs)
- Scope slightly streamlined from LW
Syllabus Comparison — LW/F4 → K3
| Change | Area / Topic | Detail |
|---|---|---|
| NEW SECTION | Intellectual property law (K3 Section G) | Entirely new section with no equivalent in LW-GLO. G1a covers intellectual property rights including copyright, patents, trademarks, designs, the law of passing off and the controls over the use of company names. G1b covers remedies for the unlawful use of intellectual property. Note that company names (previously LW-GLO D4h as a company formation topic) is now placed within the intellectual property context in K3 G1a. |
| NEW | Computer misuse and cybercrime (K3 F5) | New criminal law subsection — not in LW-GLO at all. F5a: "Explain the nature of, and legal control over, computer misuse and cybercrime [S]." Adds a discrete cybercrime topic to the criminal law section. |
| NEW | Duty of care of accountants and auditors (K3 D5g) | K3 D5g: "Explain the duty of care of accountants and auditors [S]." Not in LW-GLO Section F2 (which covered auditor appointment, duties and rights but not duty of care as a standalone outcome). |
| NEW | Small-sized company and small-sized group (K3 D2c) | K3 D2c: "Define a small-sized company and a small-sized group and explain its implication [K]." Not in LW-GLO D3. |
| REMOVED SECTION | Alternative dispute resolution mechanisms (LW-GLO A3) | LW-GLO Section A3 covered: evaluation of court-based adjudication vs ADR merits; international courts of trade including the ICC International Court of Arbitration; UNCITRAL Model Law on International Commercial Arbitration (full provisions); description of the arbitral tribunal; explanation of arbitral awards. All of this is removed from K3. K3 Section A has only A1 and A2. |
| REMOVED | International payment instruments (LW-GLO C1b–C1d) | LW-GLO C1 included: bank transfers (C1b [1]); UNCITRAL Model Law on International Credit Transfer (C1c [2]); UN Convention on International Bills of Exchange and International Promissory Notes (C1d [2]). All three are removed from K3 C2, which retains only bills of lading and letters of credit/comfort. |
| REMOVED | Company promoters and pre-incorporation contracts (LW-GLO D4a–D4b) | LW-GLO D4a: "Explain the role and duties of company promoters, and the breach of those duties and remedies available to the company [2]." LW-GLO D4b: "Explain the meaning of, and the rules relating to, pre-incorporation contracts [2]." Neither appears in K3 D3. |
| REMOVED | Partnership — termination and detailed liability (LW-GLO D2d–D2e) | LW-GLO D2 had 5 detailed outcomes covering partnerships including: D2d "Analyse the liability of various partners for partnership debts [2]" and D2e "Explain the termination of a partnership, and partners' subsequent rights and liabilities [2]." K3 D1 (which combines agency and partnerships) simplifies to only: summarise legislation governing partnerships, explain formation of a partnership, and explain authority and liability of partners in relation to partnership activity. The detailed liability analysis and termination outcomes are not in K3. |
| REMOVED | Administrator appointment, effects, powers and duties (LW-GLO G1e) | LW-GLO G1e: "Explain the way in which an administrator may be appointed, the effects of such appointment, and the powers and duties of an administrator [2]." K3 E1d only requires: "Explain administration as a general alternative to liquidation [S]" — the specific detail on administrator appointment process, effects and powers is removed. |
| REMOVED | Company names control (LW-GLO D4h) | LW-GLO D4h: "Explain the control over the names that companies may or may not use [2]" was in the company formation section. In K3, control over company names appears within the intellectual property section (K3 G1a) as part of a broader IP rights outcome. |
| REMOVED | Registration of company charges (LW-GLO E2e) | LW-GLO E2e: "Describe the need, and the procedure for, registering company charges [2]." Not in K3 D4. |
| REMOVED | Company borrowing powers (LW-GLO E2a) | LW-GLO E2a: "Define companies' borrowing powers [1]." Not explicitly in K3 D4 as a standalone outcome. |
| REMOVED | Procedure for calling and conducting company meetings (LW-GLO F3c) | LW-GLO F3c: "Explain the procedure for calling and conducting company meetings [2]." K3 D5h covers differences between meeting types; K3 D5i covers differences between resolution types — but the procedural content for calling and conducting meetings is not in K3. |
| RESTRUCTURED | ICC Incoterms elevated to standalone subsection (K3 C1) | LW-GLO placed ICC Incoterms within the UN Convention section (B1c). K3 separates ICC Incoterms into its own subsection C1 under a renamed section C "International transport terms and documents." |
| RESTRUCTURED | Criminal law expanded to 6 named subsections (K3 Section F) | LW-GLO H had a single subsection H1 covering all criminal topics as a combined list. K3 Section F has 6 named subsections (F1–F6), each a distinct topic. This makes cybercrime (F5) and intellectual property (Section G) individually examinable as separate areas. |
| EXAM CHANGE | Question format: mixed → uniform OTs | LW-GLO: 25 × 2-mark OTs + 20 × 1-mark OTs + 5 × 6-mark MTQs = 100 marks. K3: 50 × 2-mark OTs = 100 marks. Same 2-hour duration. The format simplifies to uniform 2-mark questions — no longer mixed types, no MTQs. This affects question bank design: K3 requires 50 standalone 2-mark questions rather than scenario-based MTQ sets. |
| INTELLECTUAL LEVEL CHANGE | LW-GLO [1]/[2]/[3] → K3 [K]/[S] | LW-GLO used the [1]/[2]/[3] system (knowledge, application, synthesis). K3 uses [K] (knowledge assessment) and [S] (skills assessment) — the same system as K1 and K2. The majority of LW-GLO outcomes were at [2] (application); K3 shows a mix of [K] (understand/define/summarise) and [S] (apply/explain in detail). |
| Retained | Core legal systems and international trade regulation | Political/legal systems, separation of powers, common/civil/sharia law, conflict of laws, treaties/conventions/model laws, UNCITRAL/ICC/UNIDROIT roles — all retained. |
| Retained | UN Convention content | Formation of contract, obligations of seller and buyer, provisions common to both, passing of risk — all retained. |
| Retained | Core company law content | Agency law, corporate personality, company formation/constitution, share/loan capital, capital maintenance, dividends, directors (types/duties/disqualification), company secretary, auditor, meetings and resolutions, voluntary and compulsory liquidation, debt payment order — all retained. |
| Retained | Criminal law core topics | Insider dealing, market abuse, money laundering (including all five AML controls), bribery and corruption, failure to prevent tax evasion and fraud, fraudulent and wrongful trading — all retained from LW-GLO H1. |
Syllabus Breakdown
A
Essential Elements of the Legal System
A1
Law and the legal system
- Identify the main sources of law
- Understand the court structure and dispute resolution
- Distinguish between criminal and civil law
- Understand the role of international and supranational law
B
The Law of Obligations
B1
Contract law
- Identify the essential elements of a valid contract
- Understand offer and acceptance, consideration, intention
- Identify terms: express, implied, conditions, warranties
- Understand breach of contract and remedies
- Understand discharge of contract
B2
The law of torts
- Understand negligence: duty of care, breach, causation, damages
- Understand professional negligence and liability
C
Employment Law
C1
Employment relationships
- Distinguish between employees and independent contractors
- Understand formation of employment contracts
- Identify rights and duties of employers and employees
- Understand dismissal: unfair dismissal, redundancy, wrongful dismissal
D
The Formation and Constitution of Business Organisations
D1
Company law
- Understand company formation and types of company
- Understand the constitution: articles of association
- Understand share capital and maintenance of capital
- Identify the duties and powers of directors
- Understand corporate governance basics
D2
Other business structures
- Understand partnerships and limited liability partnerships
- Compare different business structures
E
Capital and the Financing of Companies
E1
Company finance
- Understand share capital: ordinary, preference
- Understand loan capital and charges
- Understand distributions and dividends
F
Corporate Governance, Ethics and Data Protection
F1
Governance and ethics
- Understand corporate governance principles
- Understand the role of ethics in business
- Understand data protection legislation (GDPR principles)
- Understand money laundering regulations