Schema della sezione

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  • A.Y. 2019-2020 / Second semester - 6CFU

    Course objectives

    This course aims at introducing the economic and business role of financial markets, by focusing on financial institutions and the products or services that they provide. 

    The course will adopt an international perspective, by looking mainly at the US and EU markets and by considering all financial events on a global scale.

    Participants will be able to understand the rationale for the existence of financial markets and institutions, the prevailing limitations to their functioning as well as the issues of their management, both qualitatively and quantitatively.


    The official Syllabus can be found here.


    The following list links class topics to book chapters (chapters may differ due to different book editions, some chapters are available only online).

    • Financial markets: overview:
      • 1 Why Study Financial Markets and Institutions?
      • 2 Overview of the Financial System
      • 7 Why Do Financial Institutions Exist?
      • 18 Financial Regulation"
    • Interest rates
      • 3 What Do Interest Rates Mean and What Is Their Role in Valuation?
      • 4 Why Do Interest Rates Change?
      • 5 How Do Risk and Term Structure Affect Interest Rates?"
    • Market efficiency and behavioural finance
      • 6 Are Financial Markets Efficient? (NOTE: Behavioural finance is not covered explicitly in your book)
    • Money markets
      • 11 The Money Markets
    • Bond markets
      • 12 The Bond Market
    • Stock markets
      • 13 The Stock Market
    • Mortgage markets
      • 14 The Mortgage Markets
    • The Forex 
      • 15 The Foreign Exchange Market
      • 16 The International Financial System
    • Financial crisis 
      • 8 Why Do Financial Crises Occur and Why Are They So Damaging to the Economy?
      • 25 Financial Crises in Emerging Market Economies (online chapter)
    • Central banks and monetary policy 
      • 9 Central Banks
      • 10 Conduct of Monetary Policy
    • Banks 
      • 17 Banking and the Management of Financial Institutions
      • 19 Banking Industry: Structure and Competition
    • Mutual funds
      • 20 The Mutual Fund Industry
    • Insurance and pensions
      • 21 Insurance Companies and Pension Funds
    • Other intermediaries 
      • 22 Investment Banks, Security Brokers and Dealers, and Venture Capital Firms
      • 26 Savings Associations and Credit Unions (online chapter)
      • 27 Finance Companies (online chapter)
    • Derivatives
      • 23 Risk Management in Financial Institutions
      • 24 Hedging with Financial Derivatives

  • All teaching material, including slides and further readings, can be found in the following folder (updated regularly). Video lectures are now available on YouTube as unlisted videos. New videos will be uploaded following the original schedule of classes. Below you can access the full playlist as a link. 

    Online tests made with Google Forms are available consistently with the schedule listed below. Here is the list so far (update: 26 May).


    Upload   Deadline   Topics   Link   Video review upload
    15 March   27 March   Financial markets (Part A)   HERE   30 March
    5 April   10 April   Financial crises
    Central banks and monetary policy
    Banks
    Mutual funds
      HERE   11 April
    10 April   17 April   Insurance
    Pensions
      HERE   18 April
     27 April   4 May   Other intermediaries    HERE   4 May
     8 May   13 May   Hedging and derivatives    HERE   15 May
     15 May   21 May   Comprehensive test    HERE  Online session

    As requested, here are the right answers to the last test:

    1) it does not require the use of financial instruments | 2) conflicts of interest | 3) the higher are all of its risks | 4) you lose | 5) Warren Buffet is always right about his investment choices | 6) portfolios overweighting domestic assets | 7) borrower | 8) are higher when the economy expands,lower when it contracts | 9) bears an interest rate lower than asimilar non-convertible bond | 10) the asset gains roughly 0,5% | 11) a mid-cap income stock | 12) 200 | 13) the swap market | 14) bonds | 15) you lost money | 16) the foreign currency appreciates relative to the domestic currency | 17) a banking crisis | 18) a higher interest rate charged compared to mortgages offered to prime clients | 19) government bonds | 20) price stability | 21) none of the above | 22) originated loans and retail deposits | 23) open-end mutual funds | 24) lower costs than other funds with similar benchmarks | 25) insurance | 26) self-employed | 27) lower than 20 years ago | 28) we get all the stocks at 21 | 29) futures | 30) altogether, you lost 15

  • Rooms: Via Tigor, Room 3 (Tuesdays, 10-12) and Room "Mappe Antiche" (Thursdays, 9-12).

    Last update: 26 May 2020

    DAY   TIME TOPIC
    18/2   10-12 Course presentation. Financial markets: overview
    20/2   9-12 Simulation: adverse selection. Interest rates.
        [VIDEO] Interest rates (upload: 02 March)
        [VIDEO] Market efficiency and behavioural finance (upload: 04 March)
        [VIDEO] Money markets (upload: 05 March)
        [VIDEO] Bond markets. (upload: 09 March)
        [VIDEO] Stock markets. (upload: 09 March)
        [VIDEO] Mortgage markets. (upload: 12 March)
        [VIDEO] The Forex. (upload: 12 March)
        [VIDEO] Exercise: interest rates, bonds and credit risk (upload: 14 March)
        [VIDEO] Financial crisis. (upload: 16 March)
        [VIDEO] Central banks and monetary policy (upload: 18 March)
        [VIDEO] Exercise: central banks (upload: 20 March)
        [VIDEO] Banks (upload: 23 March)
        [VIDEO] Exercise: banks (upload: 26 March)
        [VIDEO] Mid-course test (Part A) - Feedback (upload: 30 March)
        [VIDEO] Mutual funds (upload: 31 March)
        [VIDEO] Exercise: mutual funds (upload: 5 April)
        [VIDEO] Insurance and pensions (upload: 9 April)
        [VIDEO] Test (Part B1) - Feedback (upload: 11 April)
        [VIDEO] Exercise: insurance and pensions (upload: 14 April)
        [VIDEO] Test (Part B2) - Feedback (upload: 20 April)
        [VIDEO] Other intermediaries (upload: 20 April)
        [VIDEO] Exercise: other intermediaries (upload: 24 April)
        [VIDEO] Seminar: EU's financial response to the Covid19 crisis (upload: 27 April)
        [VIDEO] Derivatives (upload: 8 May)
        [VIDEO] Exercise on derivatives (upload: 11 May)
        [VIDEO] Feedback on Test B4 (upload: 15 May)
     
        [MS_TEAMS] Online session for feedback on final test and Q&A (date/time: 26th May, 10:00-12:00 || LINK)