MARKET ECONOMY AND FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS

• Provide the basic knowledge of the mechanisms of financial intermediation and the functioning of financial markets; • Gain skills relating to the management conditions of financial intermediaries, with particular reference to economic and risk profiles; • Learn the technical, legal, financial and operational characteristics of financial instruments traded by intermediaries.

Know how to use the essential tools of financial mathematics; know the basic elements of commercial law of financial intermediaries; understand the fundamental mechanisms of monetary policy and the effects on the economic system.

Knowledge and understanding: the student will have acquired elementary knowledge of intermediation mechanisms, instruments, markets and financial intermediaries; will understand the meaning of financial instrument prices and the reasons for their variations; will be able to recognise the reasons for the central bank's monetary policy actions and predict the desired effects on financial and real markets; will possess the general framework for the regulation of markets and financial intermediaries. Ability to apply knowledge and understanding: the student will be able to assess financial instruments, calculate ex post and expected returns; will be able to capture the main risk factors associated with financial instruments and calculate the impact of these risks on expected returns; will be able to design simple investment and risk management structures. Autonomy of judgement: the student will have developed the ability to critically assess the investment and financing opportunities offered by markets and financial intermediaries; will be able to assess the presence of possible mispricing situations on the markets; dynamically understand price trends; express personal opinions on the monetary policy choices of the central bank. Communicative skills: the student will have developed the ability to understand the language, even slang, of operators and media that deal with finance; he will be able to talk to professionals in the sector to comment on market trends and will be able to explain to non-specialists the most relevant issues and market trends, for example, expressing opinions on the investment of savings and the acquisition of resources for a simple company. Learning skills: the student will be able to keep constantly updated on the dynamics of financial markets, on the evolution of innovations and new techniques of intermediation of financial resources and will be able to continuously enrich his or her knowledge on the subject by consulting the appropriate sources of specialist information. Learning skills: the student will be able to keep constantly updated on the dynamics of financial markets, on the evolution of innovations and new techniques of intermediation of financial resources and will be able to continuously enrich his or her knowledge on the subject by consulting the appropriate sources of specialist information.

- Analysis of the characteristics and functioning of financial markets - Theory of intermediation and functions of financial intermediaries - Financial intermediaries: management, risks and regulation - Analysis of the characteristics of financial instruments traded on financial markets.

The reference book is Mishkin, F.S., Eakins, S.G., Beccalli, E. "Financial Institutions and Markets," (Ninth Edition) Pearson. Slides and exercises presented in class and signaled by the professor as part of the final exam.

The teaching activity is articulated as follows: • Frontal lectures: aimed at providing basic knowledge, and discussing with students the program's topics. • Exercises: aimed at the improvement of application skills and problem solving. • Group project: students are involved in group project presentation activities to develop the skills of research, coordination, adoption of technical language and public speaking. • Individual study: students integrate the knowledge and skills acquired in the classroom with an individual study of the textbook and reading of in-depth documents indicated by the teacher to promote independent learning skills.

For attending students: • Mid-term test (40%) • Final test (60%) Attending students are those who systematically attend lectures. The essential requisite for being considered an attending student is to achieve at least 70% attendance to lessons, in each sub-period of time, before and after the Mid-term test. The written tests will consist of: multiple-choice questions, short open-ended questions. The subject of the tests will be the chapters of the book indicated below: Chapter Topic 3 Reasons for financial institutions 6 Banks: fundamentals of business and management 7 Banking sector: structure and competition 8 Banking and financial regulation 9 Mutual funds 10 Insurance companies and pension funds 11 Investment banks, brokers and dealers, venture capital 12 Interest rates and the role in valuation 13 Bank operations 14 Financial statements and bank management 15 Risk management in financial institutions 16 Central banks structure: the European Central Bank 17 Monetary policy management: instruments and objectives 18 Financial markets and interest rates 20 Money markets 21 Bond markets 22 Stock markets 23 Forex markets 24 Derivatives markets Plus, any other reference material distributed during the year and indicated as "study material". For non-attending students: • Written exam (100%) Non-attending students are those who cannot systematically follow the course (regardless of the reason, i.e. participation in internships or completion of the Erasmus period does not allow attendance). Non-attendees are also those not attending at least 70% of the lessons, during each sub-period of the course (before and after the Mid-term test).. One year after the end of the course, all students in debt are considered non-attending. Non-attending students will only be assessed based on the final written exam, the structure of which will be the same, including exercises on chapter 12 and from 18 to 24. The test will cover all the chapters of the textbook plus any material delivered during the course with the qualification “study material”.

There are no formal barriers. The assignment of the final thesis is made by the professor after the approval of the topic, the bibliographic research, and a brief memo illustrating the thesis project.