International Finance Liberal Arts & Sciences Program Summer 2021 June 6-Week - Rome

This course explains and analyzes the main financial challenges that companies face in an international context. Globalization, or the increasing economic integration of goods, services and financial markets at the international level, represents both opportunities and threats for governments and enterprises.

There is one main dimension separating domestic finance and international finance: International risk. Fluctuations in exchange rates, interest rates, and inflation require risk identification, risk measurement and hedging which are important tasks for international finance.

This course provides discussions of some of the main challenges of international financial transactions. It is divided into two sections. In the first section, the student will be familiarized with exchange rate determination, balance of payments, the international monetary system, the European Monetary System and the parity conditions in real markets and financial markets. In the second section, they will examine the different derivatives for hedging (options, forwards, futures, and swaps), and exposure measurement (translation, transaction and economic exposure).

Course activities are based on worksheets with exercises related to each topic studied in class and current articles and videos from business newspapers and magazines to be discussed on a daily basis and motivate class participation.