Centre for Financial & Management Studies (CeFiMS) - University of London

MBA and Postgraduate Diploma in Banking

Structure and Syllabus

MBA: 6 courses (5 compulsory courses plus 1 elective)

Postgraduate Diploma: 4 courses (chosen from those marked *)

Five compulsory courses

Bank financial management [C322]*

Financial law [C240]*

Risk management: principles and applications [C323]*

Corporate finance [C321]*

Law and regulation of electronic finance and internet banking [C245]*

One elective course chosen from the following

Macroeconomic policy and financial markets [C325]*

Banking and capital markets [C326]

Banking regulation and resolution of banking crises [C356]

Compulsory courses

Bank financial management [C322]
This course concentrates on the principles of bank management of assets and liabilities. You will learn about the principles of bank balance sheet management and money market operations as well as liquidity ratios and capital adequacy ratios. You will also study issues of bank supervision and regulation.

Unit 1: Banking Innovations and Risk
Unit 2: Bank Accounts: A Useful Tool if Handled with Care
Unit 3: Bank Valuation
Unit 4: Bank Risk Management - Liquidity Management
Unit 5: Bank Risk Management - Interest Rate Risk Management
Unit 6: Cost of Funds and the Funding of Operations
Unit 7: Bank Risk Management - Credit Risk
Unit 8: Capital Management

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Financial law [C240]
This course provides an understanding of the essential elements of financial law. The course complements the finance course Risk management: principles and applications by examining the legal approach to dealing with risk. These courses give a comprehensive and coherent understanding of the financial and legal aspects of the subject.

Unit 1: Introduction to Financial Law
Unit 2: The Needs of Finance and the Character of English Financial Law
Unit 3: Bank Deposits and Accounts
Unit 4: The Law Relating to Money and Payments
Unit 5: The Law Relating to Loans and Credit
Unit 6: The Law of Secured Finance
Unit 7: The Law Relating to Financial Instruments
Unit 8: Questions of Liability

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Risk management: principles and applications [C323]
This course examines the techniques and the foundation of risk management in corporations. It covers the use of derivatives, portfolio allocation, the value of risk, and the management of credit risk and operations risk. The course includes cases and applications.

Unit 1: Introduction to Risk Management
Unit 2: Portfolio Analysis
Unit 3: Management of Bond Portfolios
Unit 4: Futures Markets
Unit 5: Options Markets
Unit 6: Risk Management with Options
Unit 7: Value at Risk
Unit 8: Credit Risk

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Corporate finance [C321]
This course enables you to relate principles and practice to the financing decisions of enterprises in modern economies. The course analyses the decisions firms make about financing their investments in productive capital.

Unit 1: Perspectives on Corporate Finance
Unit 2: Net Present Value and Capital Budgeting Decisions
Unit 3: Risk, Capital Market Equilibrium and Capital Budgeting Decisions
Unit 4: Efficiency of Capital Markets and Implications for Corporate Financing Decisions
Unit 5: Dividend Policy
Unit 6: Capital Structure I
Unit 7: Capital Structure II: Information Asymmetries and Agency Costs
Unit 8: Mergers

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Law and regulation of electronic finance and internet banking [C245]
In taking this course you will gain a grounding in the legal and regulatory issues concerning electronic banking and finance in different jurisdictions, including in the UK and at EU level. You will also acquire an understanding of the impact that this has on financial services in general and their transactional and contractual aspects in particular.

Unit 1: Introduction to Electronic Finance and Internet Banking
Unit 2: Basic Legal Concepts and Foundations of Electronic Banking and Financial Activities
Unit 3: Electronic Finance and the Globalisation of Financial Markets
Unit 4: Prudential Regulation and Supervision of Electronic Finance and Banking
Unit 5: Law of Electronic Banking in the United Kingdom
Unit 6: Regulation of Securities Activities over the Internet
Unit 7: EU Law - The Financial Services Action Plan
Unit 8: Cross-Border Electronic Contracts

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Electives

Macroeconomic policy and financial markets [C325]
This course focuses on the relation between macroeconomic factors, macro economic policy and financial markets and institutions. Financial markets and institutions are treated as the central elements in the transmission of macroeconomic policy.

Unit 1: Macroeconomics and the World of Finance
Unit 2: Saving and Finance
Unit 3: Investment and Financial Markets
Unit 4: Monetary Policy and the Central Bank
Unit 5: Fiscal Policy and Government Finances
Unit 6: Expectations, Inflation, and Interest Rates
Unit 7: Foreign Exchange Markets and Foreign Trade
Unit 8: International Capital Flows and Financial Markets

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Banking and capital markets [C326]
This course examines the underlying principles and characteristics of banking and financial markets that are the foundation for understanding both their normal role in economies and the headline events. It concentrates on the theoretical and empirical scientific knowledge produced by modern research on banking. Since such knowledge is never fully established or 'proven', it enables the student to examine opposing points of view and to discuss the published studies.

Unit 1: Bank-Based vs Market-Based Financial Systems
Unit 2: Why do Banks Exist?
Unit 3: Why Banks Exist: Explanations Based on their Lending
Unit 4: Banks vs Capital Markets
Unit 5: Credit Rationing and Overlending
Unit 6: Bank Runs and Regulatory Responses
Unit 7: Financial Crisis
Unit 8: Portfolio Analysis

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Bank regulation and resolution of banking crises [C356]
The recent banking crisis has motivated heightened discussion of the merits of bank regulations used to minimise the risk of bank distress and intervention tools to mitigate its effects. In this course you will study technical aspects of bank regulation, supervision and intervention to resolve crises.

Unit 1: Principles of Bank Regulation
Unit 2: Banking Supervision & Regulation
Unit 3: The Prudential Supervision of Banks
Unit 4: Banking Crises: Weak Banks and Lender of Last Resort Support
Unit 5: Restructuring Failed Banks and Protecting Depositors
Unit 6: The Institutional Structure of Financial Regulation
Unit 7: Regulation, Supervision and Financial Stability
Unit 8: Issues in International Supervision and Regulation