MSc Finance & Accounting: Electives

In this elective you will analyse banks’ main risks and activities on both their assets and liabilities, including off-balance sheet risks and financial globalisation, with special emphasis on the effects and implications of bank regulation and monetary policy. You will also study issues such as the determinants and consequences of financial crises and come to understand interactions between financial globalisation and banks.

The module aims to provide students with:

• a cohesive understanding of contemporary financial accounting
• an understanding of the main judgments and estimates in contemporary financial information
• an appreciation of the root causes of financial reporting anomalies.

The module will be taught by discussing accounting in the context of the recent real-world company financial statements.

This module introduces students to those skills by examining the entire deal making process: from the initial stage of identifying a suitable target to undertaking due diligence on it, and from the legal structuring of a transaction to how its terms are both negotiated and then documented. Best practice and common pitfalls to avoid are explored. The module is heavily focused on “how to” make a deal happen.

The objective of the module is threefold. First, to give students an introduction to current corporate governance practice. The main issues in corporate governance and stewardship that are discussed among policymakers, corporations, investors and scholars from law, finance and economics will also be covered. The topics will be discussed from an international comparative perspective. Second, to familiarize students with analytical tools used by corporate governance analysts. Third, to illustrate how practical corporate governance and stewardship challenges, like crises, mismanagement or activist shareholder interventions can be addressed and resolved.

Beginning with the various types of business organisations, this module describes the essentials of the corporate legal system and in particular the implications of the law of obligations for contract negotiation. It will also outline the legal process when a company has financial difficulties. The second half of the module will examine tax law from the perspective of a corporate.

This module provides a basic framework for analysing corporate acquisitions, mergers and restructurings in an international setting. You will analyse all the essential elements of the acquisition process.

This new module is an introduction to real estate investment analysis from the perspective of an investor. It emphasises both the teaching of the theory of real estate investment and real estate markets as well as teaching the practical methods and their implementation as used in a modern professional investment context.

This module addresses the value creation process and examines the validity and limits of value creation in the context of corporate restructuring. You will analyse traditional valuation models and combine different pricing frameworks in valuing a number of entities with different investment and financing characteristics. The module is highly participative and the extensive use of real-world cases guides you through the theory and application of valuation models highlighting their strengths and weaknesses.

This module aims to provide students with more advanced tools of time series and econometrics than the Financial Statistics module. Applications to asset pricing and risk management will also be covered.

This module will empower you with an understanding of blockchain / distributed ledger technology from first principles, opportunities and challenges the innovation presents. At the end of the module, you will be equipped with the skills necessary to use blockchain technology to optimise existing processes, innovate business models and create new markets.

This module will first provide an overall review and estimates of global climate finance requirements based on a range of sources going from global estimates to national, sectoral and project levels. The module looks at different types of climate mitigation and adaptation projects to understand how they address specific climate challenges. Looking at the range of financing instruments including both traditional and innovative instruments for large and small projects. The module will include a review of financing sources, both private and public, the project cycle and complementary activities to financing such as policy advice and technical assistance.

Entrepreneurial Finance is designed primarily for students who plan to get involved with a new venture at some point in their career - as a founder, early employee, advisor or investor. This elective is also appropriate for students interested in gaining a broader view of the financing landscape for young firms, going beyond the basics of venture capital and angel financing.

Entrepreneurial Finance introduces students to the myriad complexities of evaluating and financing young, high potential ventures, with specific introduction of frameworks, tools, deal terms, and varying sources of capital. Through a combination of lectures, case studies, and mock negotiations, this course will help demystify the fund-raising process by addressing key questions facing all entrepreneurs: When should I raise money? How much? From whom? Under what terms? And what are the longer-term implications of my chosen financing strategy?

This module introduces modern methods of enterprise risk management applicable for financial organizations, including insurance companies and pension funds. It analyses different types of risk and methods for measuring and managing them before examining how insurance companies and pension funds implement risk mitigation techniques.

This elective offers a series of topics on fintech innovation including block chain and its applications, digital payments and financial inclusion, and technology and infrastructure solutions.

This course provides an introduction to the main issues involved in insurance markets. Issues covered include the drivers of demand and supply for general insurance and life insurance, the limits of insurability and how scoring and auditing can help insurers to fight claims fraud.

Foreign exchange (FX) is not only the most heavily traded of all financial assets, it has the clearest interface between macroeconomics and finance. This module will introduce you to the main theoretical models used to understand FX markets as well as in-depth analysis of their work.

This elective allows you to apply key principles of private equity and venture capital to the financing of leveraged buyouts and early-stage ventures. The elective teaches students how to apply what they have learned in class to real life work situations by inviting inspiring speakers to present on campus throughout the module. The guest speakers come from various areas in the industry and discuss how they make transactions in real-life and what their roles entail on a daily basis.

"I have acquired a strong basis of Private Equity & Venture Capital and a comprehensive view on the topic. I learned that it’s not always a matter of technical skills in this field but that the human element is very important." Maria Vittoria Moschini, MSc Finance & Accounting 2018

This module provides an in-depth analysis of credit and equity derivative products. We focus on corporate derivatives and cover the most important products, which serve as building blocks for structuring customised and sophisticated products.

Explore current developments and trends in sustainable finance & investment, with a special focus on capital markets, institutional investment and emerging markets.

This elective introduces you to areas of financial planning that are more specific to private wealth management. It will introduce you to the types of client, and their respective investment needs and look at issues such as succession planning and multi-jurisdiction tax planning. Finally, it examines the role of alternative investments (hedge funds, real estate and private equity) in building a diversified investment strategy.