Financial Institutions and Markets (N1634)
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Financial Institutions and Markets
Module N1634
Module details for 2025/26.
15 credits
FHEQ Level 4
Module Outline
This module introduces the various types of financial institutions and their role in society, including banks, insurance companies, and investment managers. It then provides an overview of the major financial markets and products, and how these are related to each other and to the institutions introduced earlier. Finally, behaviour of financial institutions and ethical principles of finance are discussed. A provisional outline of lectures including one revision lecture at the end, is as follows:
1. Introduction, Purpose of Module; Overview of lectures, textbook, interplay with other courses, finance as an occupation, philanthropy, origins of finance.
2. Commercial Banks - Origins, adverse selection and moral hazard, operational risks, capital adequacy, regulation, deposit insurance, Sharia / Islamic Finance
3. Investment Banks; importance in markets and society, secret of high profit, divisional analysis, shadow finance, leasing
4. Insurance; Origins, life and health, principal-agent problem, AIG blow-up, regulations
5. Investment Managers; 40 Act, mutual funds, hedge funds, private equity, venture capital
6. Debt Markets; Term structure, leverage cycle, rating agencies, usury, consumer finance protection
7. Equity Markets; corporations, stock exchanges, capital raising
8. Real Estate; REITs, mortgages, securitization, boom and bust cycles, specialty finance
9. Securitisation
10. Crises and Regulation; recent financial crisis, historical perspectives, attempts at regulatory reform
11. Revision
Additional Learning Tasks
Video Submission will come with a Bloomberg Market Concepts Certification 3 component pre-requisite
Pre-Requisite
Video Submission will come with a Bloomberg Market Concepts Certification 3 component pre-requisite
Module learning outcomes
Understand the functions of key financial institutions
Evaluate differences between main financial asset classes
Describe the role of regulators in the process of monitoring the market
Understand concepts of ethical finance in capital markets
| Type | Timing | Weighting |
|---|---|---|
| Coursework | 30.00% | |
| Coursework components. Weighted as shown below. | ||
| Media | T2 Week 8 (5 minutes) | 100.00% |
| Computer Based Exam | Semester 2 Assessment | 70.00% |
Timing
Submission deadlines may vary for different types of assignment/groups of students.
Weighting
Coursework components (if listed) total 100% of the overall coursework weighting value.
| Term | Method | Duration | Week pattern |
|---|---|---|---|
| Spring Semester | Lecture | 2 hours | 11111111111 |
| Spring Semester | Seminar | 1 hour | 01111111111 |
How to read the week pattern
The numbers indicate the weeks of the term and how many events take place each week.
Miss Madina Tash
Convenor, Assess convenor
/profiles/236676
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