Banking and Finance MSc/Postgraduate Diploma/Postgraduate Certificate

www.economics.stir.ac.uk

The MSc in Banking and Finance develops the knowledge and analytical skills needed to equip students for a successful career in banking, finance and related areas. It is aimed at students from a variety of backgrounds, including students with no previous training in economics or accountancy.

The programme is offered by the Economics Division and the Accounting & Finance Division of Stirling Management School. Both have longstanding, recognised expertise in teaching, research and practice in this area.

Programme Objectives

On completing the programme, you should have: a good understanding of banks and other financial institutions and their place in the economy; a thorough understanding of the structure and behaviour of financial markets; and the ability to use a wide variety of analytical techniques for finance.

Entrance Requirements

At least a lower second class UK Honours degree or an equivalent qualification. The qualification need not be in economics, banking or finance: most subjects are acceptable. Applicants with lower qualifications or special circumstances are also considered if they have relevant work experience.

English Language Requirements

Your first language must be English; or you must have been taught in English at a university or college where English is the main language; or you must achieve a minimum standard of English proficiency such as IELTS 6 (minimum 5 in each skill) or TOEFL 550/213/79 (Paper/ Computer/Internet).

Funding

For information on possible sources of funding, visit: www.stir.ac.uk/postgrad/finance

Modes of Study

Full-time

Programme Start Date

September

Programme Director

Professor Sheila Dow

Economics Division/Accounting & Finance Division

The Economics Division and the Accounting & Finance Division are both part of the Stirling Management School.

Structure and Content

You take four taught modules in the autumn, from September to December, and four more taught modules in the spring, from February to May. You will then write a dissertation in the summer, from June to August.

In the Autumn semester all students take the following modules:

• Economics for Business and Finance: This introduces economics as a discipline. It focuses on aspects most relevant to later modules in the programme and to a career in banking and finance.
• Banking and Financial Institutions: This introduces the concept of money and the money stock, financial instruments, modern banking systems and the key features of international money flows.
• Corporate Finance: This analyses the major decision areas of corporate finance – how to raise funds and how to invest them. It examines both the theory and the practice of corporate financial decision-making and the interaction between decision-making and capital market behaviour.
• Financial Reporting: This explores the underlying assumptions and limitations of accounting information along with the measurement and reporting problems in financial reporting. It also introduces methods available for interpreting reported accounting information.

In the Spring semester you will take two more compulsory modules:

• Money, Banking and the Economy: This explores developments in the banking sector, how this sector interacts with the rest of the economy, monetary policy, and bank regulation.
• Quantitative Methods in Finance: This provides students with the statistical and computing skills which are necessary to fully understand modern banking and finance operations.

In the Spring semester you will also take two optional modules chosen from:

• Issues in Corporate Finance: This provides a deeper understanding of the theoretical and methodological basis of empirical research in corporate finance and its potential limitations.
• Derivatives: This provides an understanding of options, forwards, futures and the foreign exchange markets. It emphasises the principles underlying the valuation of derivative securities, including valuation of forward and futures contracts, swaps and options and provides an introduction to the working of the foreign exchange market and the instruments traded on it.
• Investments and Portfolio Management: This provides an understanding of security valuation and portfolio management, focusing on equities and fixed-interest securities. It emphasises the principles underlying the valuation of bonds and stocks; and discusses the management of equity and bond portfolios, including the application of active and passive portfolio management strategies.
• International Corporate Finance: This examines key areas of finance in an international environment. It focuses on: the foreign exchange market; the relationship between exchange, interest and inflation rates; foreign exchange risk and its management; and the use of derivatives in international finance.
• International Finance and Emerging Countries: This introduces the main issues in money and finance in emerging and industrialising countries. It covers topics such as trade finance, the risks and opportunities of investing in emerging countries, and emerging countries in international capital markets.
• Modern Banking Theory and Practice: This introduces you to modern banking theory and practice, including bank functions, bank risk, bank competition, bank failures and bank regulation.
• Emerging, Transition and Islamic Banking: An introduction to the nature and the role of the banking sector in emerging, transition and Islamic countries. It explains how the theory and practice of banking depends on the economic, social, political and religious features of an economy.

Dissertation

In the Summer you will complete a dissertation on a programme-related topic approved by the Programme Director.

Delivery and Assessment

Modules are taught by a combination of lectures and small group teaching, in the form of seminars or workshops or computing labs. Assessment in most modules includes assessed coursework, often a mid-semester test, and an end-of-semester examination. Resit examinations are available.

Timetable

Contact the Division(s) for information on your timetable and reading lists.

Career Opportunities

There is an excellent employment record among graduates, many of whom now work in financial institutions in the UK and abroad.

Research Opportunities

We have research interests in the following broad areas – Money, Banking and Finance, Environmental Economics, Work and Wellbeing and Methodology and Economic Thought. Much of this research is collaborative with other disciplines at Stirling and with economists at other Scottish universities through the programmes of the Scottish Institute for Research in Economics (SIRE). A lively research culture is fostered by weekly workshops at which staff and research students present their work, and seminars held by visiting speakers. Working papers are published in the Stirling Economics Discussion Paper series.

For more information on the Division’s research interests, visit: www.economics.stir.ac.uk/research

Research Proposal

Research proposals, focusing on topics which fall into the areas of research expertise of current staff in the School, should include the following: executive summary, importance of the proposed research, prior relevant research and literature review, research questions and
methodology, any limitations or particular requirements for the research.

The specific word limit for Economics research proposals is 1,500 words.

RAE Rating

The UK-wide Research Assessment Exercise (RAE) confirmed the quality of the work being done by our researchers. 85% of the University of Stirling’s research has been judged to be internationally excellent and internationally recognised, with the top 10% of that judged to be world class.

View the full outcomes of Stirling’s RAE performance

Use the online enquiry service to find out more or to request a prospectus.

If you are ready to apply you can fill out an online application form now.