Dr Karina Patrício Ferreira Lima

Profile

I am a Senior Lecturer (Assistant Professor) in International Financial Law at the University of Leeds School of Law, where I have been based since December 2020. My academic work focuses on research, teaching, and policy engagement in the fields of financial and monetary law.
I am a Fellow of the UK’s Higher Education Academy and a member of the Centre for Business Law and Practice (CBLP). In this capacity, I serve as Programme Manager for the MSc Law & Finance, the LLM in International Banking and Finance Law, and the LLM in International Business Law. I also hold the position of External Examiner for the International Financial Law LLM pathway at King’s College London.
My work has been recognised through several notable awards, including the 2022 Society of International Economic Law-Hart Prize in International Economic Law and the 2022 John H. Jackson Prize, awarded by the Journal of International Economic Law.
I provide advice and consultancy to public entities, NGOs, and leading law firms on various aspects of financial and monetary law, encompassing the law and policy of international financial institutions, capital markets regulation, debt sustainability, and sovereign debt restructuring. I am also a peer reviewer for leading law and social sciences journals in the UK, the United States, Europe, and Latin America.
Prior to my current appointment, I was a Modern Law Review Scholar at the University of Durham Law School from 2018 to 2020.
I am fluent in English, Portuguese, and Spanish, with reading proficiency in Italian and French.

Responsibilities

• Programme Manager, MSc Law & Finance
• Programme Manager, LLM International Banking and Finance Law
• Programme Manager, LLM International Business Law

Research interests

My research interests centre on the constitutive role of law in the world’s economic organisation, with a specific focus on international finance. My primary area of expertise is global economic governance, especially concerning the legal aspects of money, finance, and sovereign debt. I am particularly interested in the role of financial and monetary legal arrangements in developmental and environmental sustainability strategies. My research explores the legal governance of sovereign debt crises, the law and policy of international financial institutions, and the macroeconomic impact of financial law and regulation.

I am currently involved in the following research and policy engagement projects:

• Governing Sovereign Debt Crises: The Case for International Sovereign Insolvency Law (forthcoming, Hart Publishing)
• Enhancing MDB Capacity through Local Currency Lending
• UK Parliament Responses to Deal with Sovereign Debt Crises

• Enhancing MDB Capacity through Local Currency Lending

Student education

Currently, I am part of the following teaching teams:

• International Trade Finance Law (LAW5585M) (PGT), led by myself (not running in the 2024/25 academic year due to my research leave in the first semester).
• International Banking Law: Capital Markets and Loans (LAW5565M) (PGT), led by Professor Gerard McCormack.
• International Economic Law (LAW5830M) (PGT), led by Dr Maria Anna Corvaglia.

Research groups and institutes

• Centre for Business Law and Practice

Current postgraduate researchers

• Christian Plascencia Gonzalez