FIN 648 International Finance



Course Catalog Description

Introduction

The course covers a sequence of important topics such as the fundamentals of international financial management, the financial environment in which the multinational firm and its managers must function, and foreign exchange management and financial management in a multinational firm. Since the courses specifically addresses the financial management aspect of international business, considerable attentive will be directed to specific issues of international finance such as foreign exchange markets, managing exchange rate risk and various other risk management issues.

Prerequisite: FIN 616 Managerial Economics, FIN 638 Corporate Finance, and FIN 510 Financial Statement Analysis


Course Objectives

The course provides students with a comprehensive in-depth level of general knowledge, skills and insights about the global finance and the capacity to analyze those factors that contribute to global financial stability, interconnectedness, financial opportunities and prosperity. The course is designed to teach using real and live financial data for analytical experiments.


Instructors

Assistant Professor Email Office
Ying Wu
ywu4@stevens.edu Babbio Center Room: 422A

More Information

Course Outcomes

After successfully completing this course, students will be able to:

  • Identify and contrast the major markets that facilitate international business;
  • Describe relationships between exchange rates and economic variables, and explain the forces that influence these relationships;
  • Identify the best practice for measuring and managing exchange rate risk and explore currency forecasting theories;
  • Synthesize and evaluate options for the management of long-term assets and liability;
  • Prescribe multinational corporations management of short-term financing and international cash management in a variety of real-world examples.
  • Gain a practical understanding of factors contributing to foreign exchange rate risks.
Campus Fall Spring Summer
On Campus X X
Web Campus X X

Course Resources

Required Materials

  • Required Text: Alan C Shapiro, Multinational Financial Management, 10th Edition,Wiley, 2013.
  • Other required readings: White papers and other industry publications

Additional Materials

Topical reports to be provided during the semester Students are strongly recommended to have an updated understanding of current events. It is strongly recommended to keep yourself up to date through newspapers such as the Financial Times and the Wall Street Journal, and weekly magazines, such as the Economist.


Grading

Grading Policies

1 Participation 20%
2 Assignments 10%
3 Exams 30%
4 Final Project 40%

Students are expected to write a case study in the final project. The entire portfolio of the final project comprises several elements:

  1. A one-page cover letter that "pitches" the case study
  2. The case study ideally less than 10 pages
  3. The solution to the case study
  4. The appendix

Students also are expected to present the case and conduct a professional presentation to the rest of the class. By the end of the semester, the final project is expected to be handed in both hardcopies and word files.

Final grades will be balanced between prior criteria mentioned above and the School guideline grade distribution. The instructor reserves the right to determine the final grade assigned to each student.


Syllabus

Weeks Topic Readings Assignment Task
Week 1 The International Financial Environment: Introduction Chapter 1
Week 2 The Determination of Exchange Rate and International Monetary System Chapters 2-3 Assignment I
Week 3 Currency Forecasting Chapter 4
Week 4 Balance of Payments and Economic Linkage Chapter 5 Case Study I
Week 5 Country Risk Analysis Chapter 6
Week 6 The Foreign Exchange Market Chapter 7 Midterm 1
Week 7 Currency Futures and Option Markets Chapter 8
Week 8 Swaps and Interest Rate Derivatives in the International Finance Markets Chapter 9 Assignment II
Week 9 Foreign Exchange Risk Management Chapters 10-11 (Selected topics if time permits)
Week 10 Financing Multinational Corporation Chapters 12-14 Case Study II
Week 11 International Portfolio Investment Chapter 15
Week 12 Multinational Corporation Management Chapters 17 Case Study III
Week 13 Multinational Working Capital Management I Chapters 18-20 (Selected topics if time permits) Midterm 2
Week 14 Multinational Working Capital Management II Chapters 18-20 (Selected topics if time permits) Final Project Due*
Week 15 Project Preview and Project Presentations