International Finance - MSc

The module assumes that students have the basic knowledge of risk management concepts. It is designed to review the risk management process and risk governance in organisations. It will provide the skills to identify and evaluate company’s or portfolio’s exposures to financial and non-financial risk factors in the business environment. It will also provide an opportunity for students to demonstrate a deep understanding and critical awareness of the risk factors around international business environment. Numerical skills in the calculation and evaluation of value-at-risk (VaR) and other credit risks of investment positions or financial derivatives such as forward contracts, swaps and options. The module will also provide the opportunity to acquire the knowledge and skills of risk budgeting, the use of risk-adjusted return on capital, the use of credit derivatives in managing credit risk, Sharpe ratio and other methods of managing market risk.

Global finance is a constantly evolving subject that deals very much with real world issues such as the causes of exchange rate movements, the challenges for international organizations and the implications macroeconomic linkage between economies. This module focuses on finance decision making in an international context and is designed to ensure that you are able to evaluate issues and problems in the area of global finance to a high academic level. It includes the foreign exchange rate behaviour, managing exchange rate risks and foreign investment issues faced by of modern companies. A wealth of examples and cases are provided to enable you to see the implications of the subject to business, mostly from a multinational corporation’s perspective. You will be encouraged and supported to undertake case studies and investigate contemporary issues relating to global finance.

This module is designed to help you to critically analyse the key theories, concepts and principles of corporate finance grounded in the academic literature and pertinent for the practitioner. In particular, this module provides a thorough treatment of the key aspects in the financial decision making process in a corporation, including project appraisal under uncertainty, cost of capital, source of finance, capital structure, dividend policy, corporate governance and working capital management.

This module provides an overview of the nature and activities of the main groups of financial institutions within the UK. It aims to offer insight into bank regulation within which financial institutions operate, especially those emanating from financial crisis. This module focuses on students developing and having a good grasp of recent and ongoing events within financial institutions and its regulation, with the aim of appraising and developing potential changes in the landscape.

International Payments, Digital Banking, and Cryptocurrency module is highly practical and tailored for individuals who want to understand the role of international payments in the global banking market and allow participants to understand the digital banking environment along with key strategies, business models, and approaches to learn how to manage the investment in cryptocurrencies.

The purpose of the Research Project module is to provide a framework for you to undertake a substantial piece of disciplinary-relevant research. It is founded upon Birmingham City Business School’s teaching and learning philosophy which integrates theory and practice.

This module allows you to apply the critical analysis and thinking skills that you acquired in the Analytical Skills module in a problem based learning approach to investigating a specific area of your finance studies and/or finance practice in which you have a particular interest. The critical analysis and critical thinking skills required in the module characterise a master’s level (level 7) piece of work. These are also highly relevant employability skills allowing you to demonstrate to potential employers that you are able to research a topic and then synthesise and analyse the results of that research in order to draw reasoned conclusions and make relevant recommendations. The ability to integrate theoretical knowledge with practical application is something that supports your development of professional and employability skills. The teaching, learning and assessment strategy to deliver this at Masters level develop an independent and self-directed learning culture and a challenging learning experience.

This module aims to develop an understating Islamic Social Finance. This module is critical in establishing the overall parameters of Islamic Social finance. It seeks to provide a high level overview of the philosophy/ontology underpinning Islamic economics & finance and the key constituent elements such as legal principles, institutions and products. The module is a practical approach to the workings of the present Islamic financial & social practices in the banking industry and faith based organizations. This module encourage you to understand the connection between the theory of Islamic finance and the real world applications of the Islamic banking and faith based organization practices.