Financial Markets & Institutions

This post will introduce on another financial subject under USM management course, Financial Market is a subject on examining how financial markets (such as bonds, stocks, and foreign exchange) and financial institutions (banks, insurance companies, mutual funds, and other institutions) work. Financial markets and institutions not only affect you’re your everyday life but also involve huge flows of funds – trillions of RM – throughout our economy, which in turn affect business profits, the production of goods and services, and even the economic well-being of countries. What happens to financial markets and institutions is of great concern to politicians and can even have a major impact on elections.

This subject’s learning content will be generally divided into two major categories: Financial Markets & Financial Institutions.

a) Financial Markets

1) Fundamentals of Financial Markets
- What Do Interest Rates Mean and What Is Their Role in Valuation?
- Why Do Interest Rates Change?
- How Do Risk and Term Structure Affect Interest Rates?
- Are Financial Markets Efficient?

2) Central Banking and the Conduct of Money Policy
-Structure of Central Banks and the Federal Reserve System
- Conduct of Monetary Policy: Tools, Goals, Strategy, and Tactics

3) Financial Markets
- The Money Market
- The Bond Market
- The Stock Market
- The Mortgage Market
- The Foreign Exchange Market
- The International Financial System

b) Financial Institutions

1) Fundamentals of Financial Institutions
- Why Do Financial Institutions Exist?
- What Should Be Done About Conflicts of Interest? A Central Issue in Business Ethics

2) The Financial Institutions Industry
- Banking and Management of Financial Institutions
- Commercial Banking Industry: Structure and Competition
- Savings Associations and Credit Unions
- Banking Regulation
- The Mutual Fund Industry
- Insurance Companies and Pension Funds
- Investment Bank, Security Brokers and Dealers, and Venture Capital Firms

3) The Management of Financial Institutions
-Risk Management in Financial Institutions - Hedging with Financial Derivatives