Banking and 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.

This module is designed to enable you understand and evaluate the structure, management as well as the professional practices in commercial and investment banking. The module covers financial intermediation and role of commercial banks, maturity and duration gap analysis, managing liquidity and effective use of capital as well as evaluating performance of commercial banks. You will be able to learn about different investment banking activities such as mergers & acquisitions, deal mechanics, corporate restructuring as well as develop skills in valuation techniques and mechanics.

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.

This module equips you with the necessary skills required for the strategic overview of credit risk and lending. It enables the development of expertise in the tools used for analysis credit risk, credit risk modelling and holistic lending strategies. The theoretical and practical frameworks upon which credit risk management is underpinned are analysed and evaluated in detail.

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.

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.

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.

In this module you will study the financial management of entrepreneurial firms (small and medium sized) and venture firms. You will first consider different sources of financing for entrepreneurial firms including bank loans, government funding, angels, venture capital, peer-to-peer financing, on-line banking and various types of private equity as well as the process of obtaining these sources. It will also include innovative ways of raising funds such as crowdfunding. Subsequently, you will consider short term financial planning and cash management, which are crucial to the early stages of an entrepreneurial firm’s development. Finally you will study why some crowdfunding campaigns, venture investments and private equity investments succeed, while others fail. You will also learn different types of crowdfunding approaches.