International Economic and Financial Relations

The general objectives of this course are to provide the student with the knowledge and the understanding of the principles of modern financial theory, of the organization of securities markets, and of risk/return profile of the most important financial instruments traded on capital markets (namely, equities, bonds and derivatives). Moreover, this course underlines the peculiar role of different financial intermediaries on financial system and in the real economy. In addition, the course describes the major theoretical contributions on corporate finance with a particular focus on the imbalances in the financial structure of Italian companies. Finally, this course describes critically the recent developments in the field of regulation and international supervision on the banking system (in particular for European banking system). The specific objectives of the course are: 1) in-depth knowledge of the analytical and graphical tools used in the fundamental analysis of securities and in the general equilibrium models of the capital markets; 2) the application of the financial methodologies learned to the evaluation of the risk-return profile of the securities; 3) the critical and judgmental capacity regarding the validation of the financial theories and the choices of policy made by the regulatory authorities in terms of global financial stability; 4) the ability to communicate what has been learned through a technical financial language appropriate to the discipline; 6) the ability to continue independently the study and in-depth analysis of current financial issues.