Unit information: Financial Markets and Corporate Finance in 2014/15

Unit name	Financial Markets and Corporate Finance
Unit code	ACCG30014
Credit points	20
Level of study	H/6
Teaching block(s)	Teaching Block 4 (weeks 1-24)
Unit director	Professor. Ozkan
Open unit status	Not open
Pre-requisites	Corporate Finance (EFIM20006)
Co-requisites	None
School/department	School of Economics, Finance and Management
Faculty	Faculty of Social Sciences and Law

Description including Unit Aims

This is the main Final year course in Finance. Building on the 2nd year Principles of Finance unit, it develops further some of the topics studied previously and introduces some new ones.

The course will be divided equally into two teaching blocks and topic areas: Asset pricing and Investments (Sylvain Friederich), and Corporate Finance (Neslihan Ozkan). These correspond to the broad Industry divide between market-based Finance (security analysis, sales and trading, fund management, etc) and Investment banking (security issuance, M&A, etc).

This course requires a variety of mathematical and econometric skills but remains intermediate in its technical level. We will attempt to strike the right balance between theory, evidence available from empirical studies, and exposure to real-world institutions (example: how options markets operate). The other Final year course in Finance (Advanced Topics) requires a greater inclination to think theoretically and a greater willingness to derive all key results explicitly.

Intended Learning Outcomes

On successful completion of this unit a student will be able to:

• Understand the concept of market efficiency.

• Understand the pricing and use of Options and Futures.

• Evaluate Mergers and Acquisitions and New Issues.

• Appreciate the role of Asymmetric Information and the Agency Theory in the choice of Corporate Financing Policy.

• Analyse and Interpret event studies

• Demonstrate an understanding of the limitations of the Capital Asset Pricing Model and Alternative Return models, such as the Capital Fama and French Three Factor model.

• Understand the role of fundamental analysis in the Valuation Equities.

Teaching Information

Lectures & tutorials.

Assessment Information

Summative assessment: 3 hr exam which tests all of the learning objectives

Formative assessment: Students do group presentations and hand in their answers for tutorial sets. These are designed to provide practice for the exam and test all the learning objectives.

Reading and References

No single text book covers the material completely. The following will be used at different times:

• Blake, D.,Financial Market Analysis, Wiley & Sons

• Bodie, Kane and Marcus, Investments, McGraw-Hill

• Hull, John C., Fundamentals of Futures and Options Markets, PrenticeHall

• Grinblatt and Titman, Financial Markets and Corporate Strategy , Irwin McGraw-Hill