6 ECTS credits
150 h study time

Offer 2 with catalog number 4021134ENR for all students in the 1st semester at a (E) Master - advanced level.

Semester
1st semester
Enrollment based on exam contract
Impossible
Grading method
Grading (scale from 0 to 20)
Can retake in second session
Yes
Enrollment Requirements
Students who want to enroll for this course, must have passed Financial Markets and Institutions.
Taught in
English
Faculty
Faculty of Social Sciences & SolvayBusinessSchool
Department
Business
Educational team
James Thewissen (course titular)
Activities and contact hours

26 contact hours Lecture
14 contact hours Seminar, Exercises or Practicals
110 contact hours Independent or External Form of Study
Course Content

In International Corporate Finance, we blend theory, practice and real-world case studies to allow students to truly understand what to do when confronted with an international financial problem at the company level. We cover advanced topics in international business finance such as exchange rate risk management, the valuation of international investment projects and the balancing of risk and reward in managing multinational corporations. The course aims to provide the student with both the theory and the practical tools that can be used to fulfill the tasks of an international finance manager.
These tasks include

  • financing in the narrow sense (funding, financial investments)
  • risk management (especially hedging, that is, risk reduction)
  • help in decision making by offering valuation of commercial or investment proposals.

Detailed content:

Introduction: Why do you need to understand international finance?
Module I: Currencies and Asset Prices

  • The foreign exchange market
  • Purchasing power parity and real exchange rates
  • International capital markets

Module II: Understanding foreign currency derivatives

  • Foreign currency futures
  • Foreign currency options

Module III: Multinational exchange rate exposure

  • Transaction exposure
  • Operating exposure

Module IV: Multinational capital budgeting and financing

  • Foreign direct investments
  • Country and political risk
  • International capital budgeting

This ex-ante list of content is conditional to changes during the academic year.

Course material
Digital course material (Required) : Slides of the lectures, cases and exercises via Canvas, Canvas
Handbook (Recommended) : International Financial Management, Geert J. Bekaert & Robert J. Hodrick., 2de, Pearson, 9781292021393, 2013
Additional info

The course consists of weekly lectures for which lecture slides are provided. All necessary material is provided on Canvas. Students who attend the lectures will find the provided lecture slides sufficient to prepare for the exam. In case you cannot attend the lectures or you need additional support, the textbook is highly recommended.

Learning Outcomes

Algemene Competenties

By the end of the course, the student:

  • has a good insight into the workings of spot and forward currency markets and is able to calculate the market value of forward contracts and currency options.
  • is able to use forward contracts, options, and other financial or operational tools to hedge the exchange rate exposure in an international corporation.
  • can identify and quantify the exchange rate risk in different aspects of business operations (import/export transactions, foreign loans and investment,…) and suggest efficient solutions to manage these risks.
  • can see the fundamental sense, limitations and uses of traditional and international CAPMs as ways to set the cost of international capital.
  • can financially evaluate various forms of foreign direct investment
  • is able to calculate the value of an international investment project using adjusted net present value analysis (ANPV), the weighted average cost of capital approach (WACC) and the flow-to-equity method.

Grading

The final grade is composed based on the following categories:
Written Exam determines 100% of the final mark.

Within the Written Exam category, the following assignments need to be completed:

  • Written Exam with a relative weight of 100 which comprises 100% of the final mark.

    Note: Note: the written exam is an individual, closed-book exam.

Additional info regarding evaluation

The second exam opportunity will be similar to the first one, notably a written closed-book exam that determines 100% of the total grade.

Allowed unsatisfactory mark
The supplementary Teaching and Examination Regulations of your faculty stipulate whether an allowed unsatisfactory mark for this programme unit is permitted.

Academic context

This offer is part of the following study plans:
Master of Business Engineering: Standaard traject (only offered in Dutch)
Master of Business Economics: Standaard traject (only offered in Dutch)
Master of International Business: Standaard traject
Master of Business Engineering: Business and Technology: Standaard traject
Master of Teaching in Economics: standaard traject (90 ECTS, Etterbeek) (only offered in Dutch)