Unit information: Banking in 2019/20

Unit name	Banking
Unit code	EFIM20032
Credit points	20
Level of study	I/5
Teaching block(s)	Teaching Block 2 (weeks 13 - 24)
Unit director	Dr. Tobias Dieler
Open unit status	Not open
Pre-requisites	None
Co-requisites	None
School/department	School of Accounting and Finance - Business School
Faculty	Faculty of Social Sciences and Law

Description including Unit Aims

The objective of the course is to understand the role of banks in the economy and the sources of fragility of the banking sector. It begins by introducing the main functions of banks in the economy. This is followed by the study of the economic literature about the existence of financial intermediaries.

The aims of this unit are to:

1. Provide students with the tools to enable them to analyse and appraise the risks, business models and strategies of banks.
2. Enable students to evaluate the inherent fragility of the banking sector.
3. Enable students to critique the current ways in which banks are regulated.
4. Develop skills of team working.

Intended Learning Outcomes

On completion of this unit, students should be able to:

1. To apply the fundamentals of financial intermediaries to nowadays’ banking sector
2. To evaluate the main sources of risks of individual banks
3. To develop and discuss remedies against the main sources of fragility of the banking sector
4. To critically assess current bank regulation and the rationale behind it
5. Work effectively in teams

Teaching Information

11 lectures (2 hours each) and 10 hours of classes

Formative Assessment

Discussion in class, working through examples, tackling textbook questions etc. A limited amount of tutorial work will be taken in and marked to provide formative feedback.

Assessment Information

Summative Assessment

A. Group presentation (30%). This will test learning outcomes 3, 4 and 5.

Individual mark may be adjusted in line with peer assessment of contribution.

B. 2-hour unseen exam (70%). This will test learning outcomes 1, 2, 3 and 4.

Reading and References

There is no single textbook for this unit. Various relevant banking textbooks exist e.g.

• “Introduction to Banking” by Casu, Molyneux, and Girardone, 2^nd edition, 2015 published by Pearson,
• “Microeconomics of Banking” by Freixas and Rochet 2^nd edition, 2008 MIT Press