UNIVERSITY OF NAIROBI

SCHOOL OF BUSINESS,
DEPARTMENT OF FINANCE AND ACCOUNTING
DFI 224: FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS AND MARKETS
COURSE INSTRUCTOR: Dr. Zipporah Onsomu

COURSE OBJECTIVE

The course seeks to provide the student with a broad perspective of the structure and
operations of financial institutions and Markets. On completion of the course, the student is
expected to appreciate the key issues relating to the roles and proper functioning of the
financial Markets and different types of financial institutions. The Emphasis will be on
theory and understanding of basic concepts.

COURSE CONTENT
TOPIC TOPIC TITLE
INTRODUCTION
1  Importance and an overview of financial institutions and markets
 Determination of interest rates
 Interest rates and securities valuation

FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS (INDUSTRY OVERVIEW, REGULATIONS AND

2 OPERATIONS)
 Commercial banks ( Financial statements and analysis)
 Other lending institutions : microfinance institutions, SACCOs, finance
companies, insurance companies,investment banks and stock brokers /
dealers, investment companies, and pension funds

CAT 1

SECURITIES MARKETS (STRUCTURE, INSTRUMENTS, KEY PARTIES & OPERATIONS)

3  Mortgage markets
 Bond markets
 Foreign exchange markets
 Derivative securities markets
 Stock market

4 RISK MANAGEMENT IN FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS

 Types of risks faced by financial institutions
 Managing credit risk, liquidity risk, interest rate risk, insolvency risk

CAT II
COURSE CONDUCT AND EVALUATION
The course will be conducted by way of lectures and class discussions. Students will be
evaluated as follows:

ASSIGNMENTS/ QUIZ 10%

TESTS (TWO) 20%
FINAL EXAM 70%
TOTAL 100%

READING MATERIALS
1) Saunders A and Cornett M M. Financial Markets and Institutions: An introduction to the
risk Management Approach. Tata McGraw Hill, 4th Edition,2009
2) Madura ,Jeff: Financial Institutions and Markets, South Western Edition, 2006
3) Kohn, Meir, Financial Institutions and Markets. Tata McGraw Hill,1999 Edition
4) Mishkin, F.S . Financial Markets and Institutions. Addison-Wesley, 6th Edition,
5) Kidwell, D S. Financial Institutions, Markets and Money, John Wiley & Sons, Inc 10th
2008Edition,2005