MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING SOCIALIST REPUBLIC OF VIETNAM

NATIONAL ECONOMICS UNIVERSITY Independence - Freedom - Happiness

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COURSE SYLLABUS
FOR FULL-TIME UNDERGRADUATE PROGRAMS

1. COURSE NAME: SPECIFIC TOPICS IN BANKING AND FINANCE

Code: NHTM 1116 Number of Credit: 3

2. DEPARTMENT IN CHARGE OF INSTRUCTION:

Business English Department; Faculty of Foreign Languages

Office: Room 705, A1 Building, National Economics University.

Office Hours: 8:00-17:00, Monday-Friday

Office Telephone: 84.438692255

3. PRE-REQUISITE: Academic English (Listening, Speaking, Reading, Writing),

and Economics.

4. COURSE DESCRIPTION:

Specific topics in Banking and Finance is a compulsory course for students

majoring in English at the National Economics University, whose English is at the
upper-intermediate or advanced level. The course is designed to develop their
language skills to meet academic or career goals and increase the confidence when
working in the business community or dealing with business situations, especially
in banking and finance sector. The course consists of three parts. The first part
introduces structures and functions of financial systems and investigates the
difference of financial intermediaries and financial markets around the world. The
next part that comes under the heading of principles of banking examines key
economic reasons used to justify the existence of financial intermediaries and key
risks in banking together with main methods of risk management. The final part
known as principles of finance focuses on financial instruments and financial
markets.

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5. COURSE OBJECTIVES:

The aims of the course are:

 to provide students an introduction to banking and financial system;
 to improve students’ commands of business terminology and idiomatic
language commonly used in banking and finance;
 to stimulate students’ interest in the subject and encourage them to study
more about banking and finance and
 to enhance students’ working skills such as team-working, presentation,
negotiating, critical thinking and problem-solving skills.
By the end of this course, and having done the relevant readings and activities,
students will be able to:

 Effectively use a variety of phrases and expressions in banking and finance

in work-related contexts;
 Use English to critically analyze major issues concerning banking and
finance topics, using the knowledge introduced during the course:
o Discuss why financial systems exist, and how they are structured;
o Explain why the relative importance of financial intermediaries and
financial markets is different around the world, and how bank-based
systems differ from market-based systems;
o Understand why banks exist, and discuss the role of transaction costs
and information asymmetry theories in providing an economic
justification;
o Explain how and why banks make loans, how they acquire funds and
manage their assets and liabilities, and how they earn income;
o Discuss the main types of risks faced by banks, and use the keys
techniques employed by banks to manage their risks;
o Distinguish forms of financial instruments;
o Outline the participants in the financial markets;
o Define and describe the functions of different financial markets;

6. COURSE CONTENT:

TENTATIVE SCHEDULE
Total
No Contents
hours
1 Introduction 3
2 Topic 1 – Overview of Financial systems 3
3 Topic 2 – Comparative Financial systems 3
4 Topic 3 – Roles of Financial Intermediaries 3
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 5 Topic 4 – Banking and the management of Financial 3
Institutions
6 Topic 5 – Risk Management in Banking 3

7 Mid-term Test 3

8 Topic 6 – Money Market & Instruments 3

9 Topic 7 – Stock Market & Instruments 3

10 Topic 8 – Bond Market & Instruments 3

11 Topic 9 – Foreign Exchange Market & Instruments 3
12 Consolidation 3
Total 36

BRIEF INTRODUCTION OF EACH TOPIC

TOPIC 1 – OVERVIEW OF FINANCIAL SYSTEMS

Topic 1 investigates financial systems by using a functional perspective (analyzing
the functions of financial systems in order to understand why they exist) and a
structural perspective (to outline the structure of financial systems and describe the
main entities that comprise financial systems). With reference to the US financial
system, the chapter provides a taxonomy of each of these three entities. Further
more, the chapter provides an overview of the difference between national financial
intermediaries and financial markets around the world.
Texts and readings for the chapter:
Mishkin, F and S. Eakins (2012) Financial Markets and Institutions. (Boston,
London: Prentice Hall), Chapter 1, 2

TOPIC 2 – COMPARATIVE FINANCIAL SYSTEMS

The topic illustrates the main reasons for the existence of bank-based and market-
based financial systems across countries, and to review the history of national
financial systems and analyze why countries chose one way rather than another.
Second, it aims to investigate the main causes of financial crises and their sequence
of events. In particular we focus on the recent global financial crisis of 2007.
Texts and Readings for the Chapter:

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Allen, F. and D. Gale (2001) Comparing Financial Systems. (Cambridge, Mass.:
MIT Press) Chapters 1, 2 and 3.
Mishkin, F and S. Eakins (2012) Financial Markets and Institutions. (Boston,
London: Prentice Hall), Chapter 8.

TOPIC 3 – ROLES OF FINANCIAL INTERMEDIARIES

The topic investigates how several theories explain why there are financial
intermediaries. They exist to transform assets in order to satisfy simultaneously the
different requirements of lenders and borrowers in terms of maturity, size and risk;
reduce transaction costs by taking advantage of economies of scale, economies of
scope and expertise; satisfy the liquidity needs of individual investors; reduce
problems arising out of asymmetric information. The final issue concerns the future
of financial intermediaries. The traditional intermediation services provided by
banks have declined in recent years, and banks have sought to maintain profits by
expansion into other areas of business. However, this expansion exposed banks to
new and greater risks and contributed to the financial crisis of 2007–09.
Texts and Readings for the Chapter:
Mishkin, F and S. Eakins (2012) Financial Markets and Institutions. (Boston,
London: Prentice Hall) Chapter 7.
TOPIC 4 – BANKING AND THE MANAGEMENT OF FINANCIAL
INSTITUTIONS
Topic 4 examines how banking is conducted to earn the highest profits possible.
Although we focus on commercial banking because this is the most important
financial intermediary activity, many of the same principles are applicable to other
types of financial intermediation.
Texts and Readings for the Chapter:
Mishkin, F and S. Eakins (2012) Financial Markets and Institutions. (Boston,
London: Prentice Hall), Chapter 17.

TOPIC 5 – RISK MANAGEMENT IN BANKING

Topic 5 explains the importance of risk management in modern banking, and to
illustrate the economic rationale and technical aspects of the main techniques and
models used by banks to manage credit risk, interest rate risk, liquidity risk and
market risk. Furthermore, it describes with practical examples how banks’ managers
use these techniques and models in practice to protect against risk.
Texts and Readings for the Chapter:

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Mishkin, F. and S. Eakins Financial Markets and Institutions. (Boston, London:
Addison Wesley, 2012) Chapter 23.
TOPIC 6 – FINANCIAL MARKETS
Topic 6 reviews the money markets and the securities that are traded there as well
as the reason why the money markets are important. Besides, it explains how the
capital markets operate with bonds, stocks, and mortgages. Finally, it examines the
foreign exchange market, the financial market where exchange rates are determined.
Texts and Readings for the Chapter:
Mishkin, F and S. Eakins (2012) Financial Markets and Institutions. (Boston,
London: Prentice Hall), Chapter 11, 12, 13, 14, 15.
TOPIC 7 – FINANCIAL INSTRUMENTS
Topic 7 introduces defines financial instruments. Furthermore, it categorizes the
five types of instruments including debt instruments (short-term and long-term),
share instruments (ordinary and preference shares), deposit instruments (NNCDs
and NCDs), the PIs of investment vehicles, and derivative market instruments.
Texts and Readings for the Chapter:

Faure, AP, 2004a. The money market. Cape Town: QUOIN Institute (Pty) Limited;

Faure, AP, 2004b. The bond market. Cape Town: QUOIN Institute (Pty) Limited;

Faure, AP, 2004c. The equity market. Cape Town: QUOIN Institute (Pty) Limited;

Faure, AP, 2004e. The derivative markets. Cape Town: QUOIN Institute (Pty)
Limited.

7. REQUIRED TEXTBOOK & COURSE MATERIALS

Mishkin, F. and S. Eakins, (2012). Financial Markets and Institutions. Boston,

London: Prentice Hall.

8. RECOMMENDED TEXTS & OTHER READINGS

To investigate issues of principles of finance, the following texts are also
essential readings:
1. Comparing Financial Systems
2. Faure, AP, 2004a. The money market. Cape Town: QUOIN Institute (Pty)
Limited;
3. Faure, AP, 2004b. The bond market. Cape Town: QUOIN Institute (Pty)
Limited;
4. Faure, AP, 2004c. The equity market. Cape Town: QUOIN Institute (Pty)
Limited;
5. Faure, AP, 2004e. The derivative markets. Cape Town: QUOIN Institute
(Pty) Limited.
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 Internet resources and databases:
1. www.imf.org
2. www.worldbank.org
3.www. econ.lse.ac.uk
4. www.bis.org
5. www.nber.org
6. www.thebanker.com

9. ASSESSMENT & GRADING POLICY:

General requirements
Students’ performance in the course will be assessed on the following criteria:
Criteria % Requirements
1. Attendance 10 To participate at least 80% of class hours
3. Midterm Test 1 20 To complete a 60-minute Written Exam
4. Assignment 20 Group Assignment

5. Final Examination 50 To complete a 90-minute Written Exam

Total 100

2. Specific requirements
a. Group Assignment (20%):
Criteria for Group assignment assessment

No Criteria Requirements Percentage

1 Accurate response Correct answers and information 40%
2 Idea development Relevant, logical, supportive 20%
3 Writing skills Structure, grammar, terminology 20%
4 Academic integrity No plagiarism 20%

b. Mid-term test and Final exam

Time allowed: 60 minutes for Mid-course test and 90 minutes for Final exam
The mid-course test and the final exam account for 20% and 60% of the final grade,
respectively. All exam questions are given from a material that has been either
covered during the lectures, or asked on a quiz, or exercised in a discussion session.
The final exam is comprehensive, covering all the materials used in the course. The
set-up of the final exam may, however, give more emphasis to the part of the course
covered in the second half (after the midterm test).