This course aims at providing participants with a general understanding of financial sector: the functions of financial system, the structures of financial markets, and the roles of financial intermediaries.

Knowledge and understanding: The student - by participating in the lectures and seminars of the course - will have the possibility to understand the functioning of the financial system, the problems it overcomes, the crises which is subject to, the role of specific intermediaries, and the structure of specific markets. The acquired knowledge will be tested at the end of the course with a written exam. Applying knowledge and understanding: The students - acquiring the correct notions and criteria - will be able to apply solid and critical thinking in financial debates, to complement economic discussion with the opportunities and constraints offered by the financial system, and to develop simple, practical projects in the field of finance. The students will be required to apply the acquired knowledge also during the exam. Making judgements: The students, through the use of notions and criteria acquired during the course, will be able to interpret financial news and debates, new types of securities, financial crises, and banking regulation. Communication skills: At the end of the course the students will be able to use the business and technical vocabulary of finance, discerning between the essence of financial operations and the terminological evolution in different markets and institutions. Through seminars and class discussion the students will be able to put these communication skills into practice. Learning skills: The theoretical and practical knowledge acquired during the course will allow the students to autonomously understand and interpret financial techniques and dynamics, and adapt them to the specific reference context. The students will develop a solid knowledge of the fundamental aspects of the subject that will allow them to continue to deepen the topics addressed independently and to undertake the various post-graduate professional training courses. Specifically, critical thinking and communication skills will make the disciplinary skills more usable, thus adequately enhancing their learning ability.

1) Financial sector 2) Fundamentals of financial markets 3) Fundamentals of financial institutions 4) Money, bond, mortgage and stock markets 5) Derivatives securities markets 6) The financial institutions industry: insurance companies, pension funds, mutual funds, hedge funds, investment banks, brokers, dealers, and venture capital firms. 7) Financial stability and macroprudential policy

-Saunders A., Cornett M., Erhemjamts O., Financial Markets and Institutions, 2024 release -Lecture notes and presentations provided by instructors and lecturers

Lectures, seminars and case studies, exercises.

Final written exam at the end of the course. The written test consists of open-ended questions (with possible exercises within the essay) in which students are expected to demonstrate knowledge of the theoretical notions, how to link them to practical cases, and how to link and integrate different topics. In other words, students are expected to demonstrate they have achieved a sufficient understanding of the fundamental notions and theoretical criteria necessary to examine basic financial topics autonomously and exercise critical thinking on relevant financial news. The failure to achieve at least the score of 18/30 will result in failure to pass the exam. An excellent exam will result in a score of 30/30 cum laude.

Student’s interest for the subject and instructors' approval of the topic. More details will be provided in class.