Course detail

International finance

FP-mfPAcad. year: 2018/2019

The course focuses on three topics:
The foreign exchange market and the balance of payments
Investment and financial trading operations in the international environment
International monetary integration

Language of instruction

Czech

Number of ECTS credits

5

Mode of study

Not applicable.

Learning outcomes of the course unit

Knowledge: Students will have an awareness of current questions and issues concerning the international financial system on the basis of a knowledge of its development, changes and factors that determine the form of this system as well as current issues and development trends within the European Union. Students will know the basic theory of the development of foreign exchange markets and the main trends in the development of that theory. Students can describe the influence of flows captured in the balance of payments accounts on the development of the exchange rate and the risks acting on enterprises. Students understand the functioning, organisation and structure of the international financial markets, including the specifics of investing on the international markets and investment banking, as well as key international finance institutions, their location, mission, aims and connection to managing an enterprise’s finances in the international environment.
Skills: Students can comprehensively evaluate the current situation and judge the anticipated trends within the international financial system with an emphasis on Economic and Monetary Union. Students are able to evaluate individual forms of foreign investment and apply knowledge from the area of the international financial markets in choosing the optimum means of finance. Students are able to independently find solutions to problems in the field of international finance and weigh up their impact on the corporate economy.
Abilities: Students are able to independently find solutions to problems in the field of international finance, recommend an appropriate solution and justify it in a competent manner.

Prerequisites

Knowledge of cash flows in enterprises, financial mathematics and an understanding of macroeconomics.

Co-requisites

Not applicable.

Planned learning activities and teaching methods

The course consists of lectures that cover the basic principles and methodology of the discipline, and problems. The seminars in particular promote a practical knowledge of the material presented in the lectures.

Assesment methods and criteria linked to learning outcomes

For the awarding of a credit the following conditions must be fulfilled: active participation in seminars, and producing and presenting a seminar paper by the previously set deadline. The seminar paper mark has a weighting of 30% in the assessment examination.
Examination requirements: knowledge of the material covered and its practical application. In the form of a combined examination – a written test and if needed a supplementary oral examination. The examination is graded in accordance with the ECTS scale.

Course curriculum

• Balance of payments – the significance of the balance of payments, the mutual connection between individual accounts of the balance of payments, the influence of the balance of payments on the demand for foreign currency;
• Foreign exchange markets – the organisation and structure of the foreign exchange markets, ways of quoting exchange rates, purchasing power parity theory and interest rate parity theory; the main trends in exchange rate theory;
• Exchange rate systems – classification of individual systems of exchange rates and their evaluation according to selected criteria;
• The policy of balance of payments in equilibrium – defining a country’s external imbalances, means of compensating for a balance of payments deficit, risks and impacts of individual methods on the economy and entities in a given country;
• Development of the international financial system – the main stages in the development of the international financial system, the origins of the first international financial institutions and the evolution of integration within Europe;
• Investment and financing trading operations in the international environment – the significance and forms of direct investment and portfolio investment, the significance and structures of European currency and capital markets, the specific features of the financial strategies of transnational corporations;
• Specific ways of financing cross-border economic activities – project financing and joint ventures, bound trading operations, multilateral development banks.

Work placements

Not applicable.

Aims

The aim of the course is to acquaint students with developments and trends in the field of the international financial system, in the environment which provides the framework conditions for the financial management of enterprises in an international context, primarily in the European Union.

Specification of controlled education, way of implementation and compensation for absences

Control of results of independent work on assigned tasks. In case of excused absence from seminars, the teacher can set additional conditions if appropriate, usually the production of a partial written task.

Recommended optional programme components

Not applicable.

Prerequisites and corequisites

Not applicable.

Basic literature

DURČÁKOVÁ, J. a M. MANDEL. Mezinárodní finance. 4. aktualizované a doplněné vydání. Praha: Management Press, 2010. ISBN 978-80-7261-221-5. (CS)
NÝVLTOVÁ, R. a M. REŽŇÁKOVÁ. Mezinárodní kapitálové trhy. Praha: Grada, 2007. ISBN 978-80-247-1922-1. (CS)
SÁGHY ESTÉLYI, K. Mezinárodní finance – studijní text k předmětu + e-learning (CS)

Recommended reading

BALDWIN, R., Ch. WYPLOSZ a S. ŠAROCH. Ekonomie evropské integrace. Praha: Grada, 2013. ISBN 978-80-247-4568-8. (CS)
ČERNOHLÁVKOVÁ, E., A. SATO a J. TAUŠER. Finanční strategie v mezinárodním podnikání. Praha: ASPI, 2007. ISBN 978-80-7357-321-8. (CS)
JÍLEK, J. Finance v globální ekonomice I: Peníze a platební styk. Praha, Grada, 2013. ISBN 978-80-247-3893-2. (CS)
JÍLEK, J. Finance v globální ekonomice II: Měnová a kurzová politika. Praha, Grada, 2013. ISBN 978-80-247-4516-9. (CS)
SHAPIRO, A. C. Multinational Financial Management. 9. ed. University of Southern California, 2010. ISBN 978-0-470-45035-2. (EN)

Classification of course in study plans

  • Programme IT-MGR-2 Master's

    branch MMI , any year of study, summer semester, compulsory-optional

  • Programme MGR Master's

    branch MGR-UFRP , 2. year of study, summer semester, compulsory
    branch MGR-PFO , 2. year of study, summer semester, compulsory

Type of course unit

 

Lecture

20 hours, optionally

Teacher / Lecturer

Syllabus

Topics of lectures are the following:
importance of international finance;
risks of international business;
terms of payments;
short-term export finance;
long-term export finance;
export credit insurance;
export credit agencies.

Exercise

10 hours, compulsory

Teacher / Lecturer

Syllabus

Risk Management, Payment Methods, Documentary Collection, Insurance Policy of EGAP, Export Credit Agencies and Supported Credits.