17551 - International Finance

Academic Year 2014/2015

  • Teaching Mode: Traditional lectures
  • Campus: Forli
  • Corso: Second cycle degree programme (LM) in International relations and diplomatic affairs (cod. 8783)

Learning outcomes

International Finance (17551) will provide students with an introduction to financial decision-making, and the framework in which these decisions are made. The international financial system and its main actors are covered in the first part of the course, along with basic finance concepts such as the time value of money, asset valuation, and risk and return trade-off. The second part will deal with each single financial market—the bond market, the equity market, the foreign exchange market and the market of derivative instruments.

Course contents

Introduction to finance and international financial markets. Financial institutions. Theory of financial valuation: I. Theory of financial valuation: II. Determination of interest rates. Introduction to risk and return. Portfolio theory. Capital Asset Pricing Model (CAPM). Stocks and their valuation: I. Stocks and their valuation: II. International corporate governance. Efficiency of financial markets. Foreign exchange market. Financial risk management and derivatives. Financial innovation and the credit crunch.

Readings/Bibliography

Required and elective study material is summarized in the following reading list. Slides used in class by the instructor are also required. They will be made available at the instructor's institutional website.

-  Pilbeam, K., Finance and Financial Markets, 3/e, Palgrave Macmillan, 2010 (P).

-  Peterson Drake, P. and F. J. Fabozzi, The Basics of Finance: An Introduction to Financial Markets, Business Finance, and Portfolio Management, John Wiley & Sons, 2010 (PF).

-  Howells, P. and K. Bain, The Economics of Money, Banking and Finance: A European Text, 4/e, Pearson, 2008 (HB).

Assessment methods

A 90 minutes final class test will take place after the class ending within the official exam sessions. It will include ten multiple choice questions (10 points), one open question (5 points) and two exercises (16 points, i.e. 8 points each). Moreover, attending students will be asked to present and discuss one research paper or a topic in finance (team work) in the last scheduled meeting (about 15-20 minutes for each presentation, depending on the number of students). This will provide the participants with a maximum of 4 points (to be added to the final written exam mark). Please note that these additional extra-points will be only valid in the official exam session right after the course ending.

Links to further information

https://sites.google.com/site/massimilianobarbifinance/teaching/finanza-internazionale-17551

Office hours

See the website of Massimiliano Barbi