module specification

The module develops a critical understanding of the international financial environment, markets and institutions within which businesses operate to enable students to draw on such knowledge for decision making in global firms. It develops the conceptual understanding of financial management and approaches to decision making in a global context.
Students will explore themes including international financial monetary system, exchange rate system, the foreign exchange markets, capital investment, capital structure for global firms, sources of financing global firms, international money markets, international capital markets integration, risk management, international financial crises, international working capital management.
The module equips students with a thorough understanding of the financial policies, instruments and strategies that may be devised to assist global firms to achieve their objectives.
The module develops skills of research for students including, data collection and transformation, data analysis, written communication. EViews and MS Excel spreadsheet will be used to assist students in the analysis of financial data, contributing to the employability and internationalisation.
Students will be treated equally with a blended teaching and learning approach, which encourages students to participate classroom activities and self-reflection on learning and critical self-awareness.

The International monetary system: the international traded and foreign exchange rate systems, LO1

The Foreign Exchange Market: functions of the spot and forward markets, currency futures and options, international parity relations, exchange rate determination, managing foreign exchange risk. LO2

Financing the global firms: sourcing equity and debt globally using capital markets, money markets and banks, the cost of capital for the global firm, Import and Export Finance. LO3

International Capital Markets: globalisation of financial markets, trends, benefits and costs, International capital market integration, International asset pricing models.

Multinational capital budgeting: foreign direct investment and political risk; international project finance LO4
Currency, banking and financial crises: causes and consequences and their implications for global firms

The module offers to study of international finance over a period of 30 weeks.

A two-hour lecture in every week is used to outline the key issues and models which students need to understand in order to able to evaluate and make decisions in international finance. The lectures are interactive and involve, among other things, students contributions, debate and undertaking short small-group exercises. The lectures are supported by guided reading and the seminar classes each week.

Teaching is supported by one hour seminar which gives students the opportunity to take an active part in the learning process through the presentation of material in assigned readings and tutorial problems explored or solved prior to the class. Students are expected to spend at least 7 hours per week outside the lecture and seminar periods to read assigned material, collect data for analysis, solve problems and write essays or prepare essay plans to consolidate their understanding of the discipline. The classes involve discussions, practical exercises, quizzes, videos and presentations.

Student learning is supported by additional learning materials, web links and a discussion forum on the University’s virtual learning platform.
Students are required to reflect on their learning and the feedback that they obtain from the assessment process.

On the successful completion of the module, students should be able to:

1. critically explain historical and contemporary policy and institutional issues in the international financial system and their implications for the development of the international financial architecture, causes  of international financial crises and the policy responses to currency, banking and financial crises;

2. critically appraise the theoretical, empirical and practical determinants of exchange rates and the functions of currency markets;

3. critically assess the functioning of the major international capital and money  markets as well as international banking and demonstrate how they may be used by firms to meet their funding, liquidity and risk management objectives;

4. evaluate all aspects of capital investment projects that global firms undertake,
collect information, develop models, interpret findings in the context of the theoretical literature and communicate an understanding of major conceptual and practical issues.

The assessment strategy is designed to get students engaged with the module throughout the year. There will therefore be three assessments for the module.
The first assessment is a reflective essay that is submitted in week 8 with a weighting of 20%. The essay requires students to review their own understanding of key concepts, models, theories and calculations and develop an action plan to develop their learning further. They will also consider how the module assists in the development of their career plans.
The second assessment which will be an essay or an empirical work submitted in week 21 with a weighting of 30%. This will focus on the application of knowledge and require students to write an essay or conduct an empirical study that requires collection of data from databases and other sources, the estimation of models and their interpretation in the light of the theoretical literature.
The final assessment will be a two-hour end of year examination in weeks 29 to 30 with a weighting of 50%. The examination will assess knowledge and understanding of the module content relating to LOs 1, 3 and 4, written communication and numerical skills.  The subject matter of the examination will include theories, models and applied calculations in international finance.

Textbooks:

Core Text:
Levi M D,  (2009) International Finance, Taylor and Francis Group

Pilbeam, K. (2006), International Finance, 3rd edition, Palgrave Macmillan, Basingstoke.

Other Texts:
Copeland, L. (2008) Exchange Rates and International Finance, Prentice-Hall, 5th Edition.

Eiteman D., Stonehill A. and Moffett M, Multinational Business Finance, Addison Wesley

Hallwood, C. and MacDonald, R (2000), International Money and Finance, 3rd edition. Oxford: Blackwell.

Kim, S. H. and Kim, S. H. (2006), Global Corporate Finance, Blackwell Publishing
Levi, M. D.(2009), International Finance McGraw Hill

Madura, J. and Fox, R. (2007), International Financial Management, Thomson. (Core text book)

Pilbeam, K. (2006), International Finance, 3rd edition, Palgrave Macmillan, Basingstoke.

Sarno, L. and Taylor, M. P. (2002), The Economics of Exchange Rates, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Journals
Journal of Finance
Journal of International Finance and Economics
Journal of Economic Perspectives
Journal of Economic Literature

Online resources
www.imf.org
www.worldbank.org

Data sources
https://www.ukdataservice.ac.uk/