Fin 481  International Finance

Course Overview
Fin 481 will discuss the risks associated with management of a multinational company as well as possible ways to manage those risks. We'll set the stage with a look at how exchange rates are determined, the theoretical relationships between exchange rates, interest rates, and inflation rates, and the international monetary system.

With this foundation we will examine economic and transaction exposure and how strategic decision making and derivative securities can be used to manage these exposures. Finally, we will look at how multinational firms should evaluate foreign investment opportunities whether they are opportunities in portfolio investment or in foreign direct investment.
3 credits.

Course Objectives
Upon completion of this course, students will be able to:
  1. Provide a convincing argument for the benefits of international trade.

  2. Describe the international monetary system and international markets for foreign exchange.

  3. Describe in words and mathematical models the parity relationships between foreign currencies.

  4. Manipulate the models to show their equivalence and compute their values.

  5. Argue successfully that derivative securities are vitally important in managing risk.

  6. Outline how derivatives can be used to hedge against foreign exchange risk.

  7. Describe what it means for a firm to be exposed to economic and transaction risk and ways in which the firm can limit its exposure to both.

  8. Describe how globalization leads to increased risks and opportunities in terms of a company's investment and financing decisions.

  9. Describe how a country's imports and exports are “balanced” in its balance of payments, and intelligently argue whether a positive “balance” is beneficial for that country's competitiveness.

Course Prerequisites
Fin 325.



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