Course description
Banking and financial services represents a highly competitive and rapidly changing sector in every modern economy. Changes in customer requirements, technology, competitive conditions and regulation create the need for managers, traders and analysts to make rapid and often far-reaching decisions about their short term operations and long term strategies. The MSc International Banking and Development Finance at Bangor offers you a unique opportunity to study advanced theory and practice relating to financial services, and to develop an appreciation of the causes and significance of current developments in this vitally important and dynamic sector of the economy.
Issues you will study as part of your MSc International Banking and Development Finance degree programme include:
• Why do financial markets fail?
• How does bank regulation take account of the risks facing international banks across different countries?
• What are the likely policy responses of multilateral financial institutions?
• What is the role of the foreign bank in promoting banking system efficiency in developing countries?
• Are there any adverse outcomes associated with liberalisation and, if so, how would the institutional environment affect this?
• How do you explain the expansion of international banking markets and where are the efficiency gains?
• Why are the banking systems in different countries so diverse?
• What determines the structure, performance and efficiency of banking and financial markets?
• How volatile are international capital flows and how is monetary policy employed during episodes of financial distress?
• Why do banks conduct investment and private banking, what risks do they face, and what are the main strategic and performance features facing the global private and investment banking industry?
• How do we measure the risks undertaken by banks?
• Can regulators reduce the likelihood of systemic risk?
• What are the relationships between risk and return governing investment in company shares and other derivative instruments?
• Can market risk be priced accurately? Can credit risk be priced accurately?
• How should institutional investors go about constructing a portfolio of assets to maximise returns on behalf of investors?
• How do banks use futures, options, derivatives and swaps to manage their balance sheet and off-balance sheet risks?
• What are the key principles of international portfolio management in a world of fast and unpredictable movements in exchange rates?
With these needs in mind, the MSc International Banking and Development Finance programme at Bangor is designed to develop participants' existing skills through a scheme of specialist advanced study. An important objective is to provide participants with relevant analytical training, so that they are familiar with the latest theoretical and practical developments relating to international banking, development finance and international capital markets. This programme provides a coherent theoretical framework for the various subject areas, but the emphasis throughout is on advanced practical application of banking and financial techniques in a real-world setting.
The MSc degree in International Banking and Development Finance is scheduled for a duration of 12 months. The degree programme consists of two parts.
Part 1 is a wholly taught component, contributing 120 credits. Part 1 is taught during the two semesters which make up the academic year. Teaching during semester 1 normally runs from late-September to December, with examinations in January. Teaching during semester 2 normally runs from late-January to early-May, with examinations in May and June.
Part 2 is a supervised dissertation of around 10,000 words, contributing 60 credits. The dissertation provides you with the opportunity to critically review, and possibly (but not necessarily) produce an original contribution to, the literature in any part of the taught syllabus. Part 2 is completed during the summer months, from June to September. You are expected to submit your dissertation by the end of September in the calendar year following your initial registration for your MSc degree programme.
Continuous assessment is an integral part of all of our taught modules. The weightings attaching to coursework and other forms of continuous assessment vary from module to module, from a minimum of 25% to a maximum of 50%.
ESRC Recognition
The MSc International Banking and Development Finance is recognised by the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) as the first year of a 1+3 PhD training programme.
MSc International Banking and Development Finance course structure
Compulsory modules:
* Bank Financial Management
This module provides a grounding in the nature, strategic context and managerial functions of financial management in banks, and other financial services firms.
* International Financial Markets
This module provides an overview of financial instruments in a multi-currency world, taking account of insights from portfolio theory concerning the relationship between risk and return, the diversification of risk, and the pricing of assets.
* Financial Modelling
This module develops a combined theoretical and practical approach to mathematical modelling for specialists in finance.
* Banking and Development
This module critically evaluates the theory underlying the policy of financial liberalisation, and examines its implementation, primarily in developing countries.
* International Banking
This module examines the origins of international banking, the activities of international banks, the markets in which they participate, and the sources of risk.
* Research Methods
This module equips students with knowledge of intermediate and advanced research methods, which they will encounter in other modules and in their dissertation.
Optional modules (choose 1):
* International Financial Management
In this module, the financial management of multinational companies, and the influence of the macroeconomic, fiscal, currency and political environments on business and financial decision-making are examined in an international and global context.
* Bank Strategy and Performance
This module examines the main theoretical and practical issues concerning banking business.
* Investment and Private Banking
This module examines the major features of the investment and private banking sectors.
* Financial Econometrics
This module provides advanced coverage of econometric methods and practices that are used to model financial and business data.
Dissertation - approximately 10,000 words
