IB542K: INTERNATIONAL FINANCE (2020-2021)

International finance is concerned with monetary and macroeconomic interrelations between countries within the dynamics of global international trade. Financial institutions that are central to developments in research about international finance include organisations such as: the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) and the intergovernmental organisation for economic and co-operational development (OECD). Understanding international finance has two strands. First, from a macroeconomic perspective international finance is a branch of financial economics that considers international monetary systems and concepts such as the balance of payments. This strand is also concerned with foreign exchange rates and exchange parity relations such as interest rate parity and purchasing power parity. In the second strand of international finance, our focus lies with issues and risks facing the financial management of multinational corporations. Our discussion within this strand  begins with international bond markets. In recent years the international bond market has grown to an amount outstanding that is greater than $100 trillion. Hence, we focus on this market principally because, within a globalised trading market, bond markets represent important sources of funds and financing to companies outside their operating headquarters. Equity markets are, of course, important sources of funding also and we put in context the balance between equity and debt from an international perspective.  Our overarching course objective is to enhance critical reasoning skills in finance through the study of international financial models and international financial management. We look forward to exploring this very exciting topic with you during this course.

• Any Postgraduate Programme (Studied)