MSc Banking and Finance

Through this course, you will build a sound theoretical and practical grounding in banking and finance, equipping yourself with the skills needed to excel in business or in research. You will graduate as someone who is not only highly skilled, but also an independent and critical thinker, able to make their own decisions when faced with complex problems.

You will learn how to conduct your own independent research, and how to approach issues from a rigorous and scientific perspective. You will be part of one of the top universities for research, and will benefit a lot from the interaction with our world-renowned faculty members.

This course is ideal for you if you have a degree in Accounting, Finance, Business, Economics, Management or in a quantitative subject, such as Mathematics or Engineering.

About

Prepare for a career in banking and finance at the highest level with a degree that combines theory, practice and research expertise. This internationally focused and highly-respected Master’s will prepare you to excel on a global stage in the professional or academic sector. You will be qualified to work in commercial banking, asset management, hedge funds, consulting and accountancy firms, government bodies, and academic institutions.

You will develop research-orientated expertise in investment and risk management, banking, corporate finance and international accounting. You will become expert in the cutting-edge quantitative techniques needed for in-depth empirical investigations in banking and finance. You will discover how to critically analyse theories and data in order to make effective, evidence-based financial decisions. And you will receive support and access to online resources such as Thomson Reuters including Eikon and Datastream and BankOrbis.

Working with leading academics in Norwich Business School’s highly-respected Finance Group, you will discover the most important recent developments in financial research. Meanwhile, you will build the analytical skills needed to make your own contribution to the latest thinking in the field. In our computer laboratories, you will learn how to implement and test the theories you have learned. You will also gain first-hand experience of applying the tools used by leading traders, financial analysts and investment bankers in their day-to-day work.

Your dissertation will enable you not only to tackle an issue you think is important, but also to develop the research and analytical skills you will need to keep innovating throughout your career. You will discover how to make decisions based on evidence and how to use literature and research to solve problems. All of which will be essential in your career.

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Important Information

Whilst the University will make every effort to offer the courses listed, changes may sometimes be made arising from the regular review of course programmes. Where this activity leads to significant (but not minor) changes to programmes, there will normally be prior consultation of students and others. Changes may for example consist of variations to the content and method of delivery of programmes, courses and other services, to discontinue programmes, courses and other services and to merge or combine programmes or courses. The University will endeavour to keep such changes to a minimum, and will inform students.

Assessment for Year 1

Assessment

Your skills and knowledge will mainly be assessed through coursework. This includes both formative and summative assessment, and group as well as individual work. The ultimate purpose is to help you gain a better understanding of the various concepts covered in the modules, improve your writing and presentation skills, and familiarise you with real-world practice. Moreover, the assessment in the modules you will be attending will help you identify areas of interest.

As a general principle, each module includes a mid-semester formative assessment and an end-of-semester summative assessment. The formative assessment may involve an individual or group project or a presentation, depending on the module. For one of the modules there is an exam.

The final semester includes a dissertation where you have the chance to gain expertise on a topic of your interest and benefit from interaction with your supervisor. Through the process, you will also obtain useful research skills.

Feedback

You will receive feedback on your formative assignments from your tutors. The purpose of the feedback is to help you improve your work before your final ‘summative’ assignment, and you are strongly encouraged try to reflect on it.

Module leaders will provide detailed feedback on your assignments in line with the UEA Senate Scale. The feedback form will be aligned with the marking criteria, which you will be told beforehand. Importantly, particular focus will be given to feed-forward as an effective mechanism for quality improvement. Marked work and feedback are usually returned within 20 working days from the submission.

Your dissertation supervisor will provide regular feedback on drafts of your work and on your final dissertation during the second and third semester. There will be a series of meetings which will give you the opportunity to discuss your work, reflect on the feedback, and make an action plan for the next stages in order to achieve the best possible outcome.

Structure

In your first semester, you will study the compulsory modules Financial Management, International Accounting, and Responsible Business. These will give you a strong foundation in the most important theories and practices of corporate finance and governance, international accounting and business regulation.

In your second semester, you will add further depth and breadth to your studies with the modules Investment and Risk Management, Banking and Financial Markets, and Empirical Finance. The latter will give you a rigorous understanding of the econometric techniques needed to conduct effective research in banking and finance.

In your third and final semester, you will complete your dissertation, under the guidance of an assigned supervisor. This will be a great opportunity to conduct your own original research, exploring a question you are passionate about. Your dissertation is a valuable indication about your analytical skills of your potential to future employers. It is also a great preparation for PhD study if you decide to take this route.

Teaching and Learning

Teaching

You will learn through a combination of teaching methods including lectures, case studies, seminars and computer-based workshops. You will also learn how to critically assess and analyse academic papers, and how to use the financial software (eg Datastream, BankOrbis) and empirical financial tools and techniques needed for a finance position or for financial research (eg STATA software).

All our teaching will be informed by the latest research and real-world business experience. You will be studying with lecturers with an international reputation in their field, who are recognised worldwide for the quality of their research. You will benefit from guest speakers and researchers from Norwich Business School and the wider academic community. That means you will gain exposure to the latest thinking and practice in the finance field.

Business is ever-changing, so you will learn, evaluate and utilise the leading theories of Today, you will also develop the critical skills needed to examine and put to use any new theories and methods that come to the fore during your career.

The focus of the course is on developing your analytical and critical thinking. This means that you will graduate with the necessary skills to tackle new challenges and innovate in the marketplace. The course will help you become an independent and self-motivated individual with all the competencies needed for a successful career in the financial sector

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Assessment for Year 1

Assessment

Feedback

Compulsory Modules

INTERNATIONAL ACCOUNTING

Code NBS-7076A

Credits 20

In this course, you will study the comparative and international aspects of financial accounting and reporting, which are becoming of greater importance due to increasing globalisation. The learning objectives of this module are to develop an understanding of: - the pressures for and against harmonisation and standardisation of financial accounting and reporting - the international dimensions of financial accounting and reporting - the causes of international differences in accounting - the context of financial accounting and reporting practices of individual companies and in countries - key current financial accounting and reporting topics and controversies The study of these topics will develop your skills in analysing and interpreting financial information, as well as giving up a deeper understanding of the information provided in financial statements, from both a preparer’s standpoint and an investor’s standpoint. The discussion of research papers will also develop critical thinking.

EMPIRICAL FINANCE

Code NBS-7078B

Credits 20

This module will help you gain a solid understanding of the theoretical and practical challenges related to empirical research in Finance and equip you with the necessary skills for successfully completing your MSc dissertation. You’ll focus on the key econometric tools and techniques used by finance researchers and practitioners. Topics covered include, among others: Ordinary Least Squares (OLS) estimation and violations, univariate time series modelling and forecasting, multivariate time series models, unit root testing, cointegration, and volatility modelling. All topics are complemented by presentation and discussion of real-world applications in asset pricing, market efficiency, long-run relationships, volatility modelling, etc. Datasets from professional platforms (Thomson Reuters Datastream and Eikon) are used extensively throughout the module with the empirical analyses performed in Stata, a state-of-the-art statistical analysis software.

BANKING AND FINANCIAL MARKETS

Code NBS-7079B

Credits 20

This module will provide you with a thorough description and analysis of banking operations in the modern financial system. Firstly, the module introduces the importance of financial sector development, encompassing the economic growth process. You’ll investigate the role of central banks, as it relates to the operation of monetary policy mechanisms and commercial bank management. Secondly, you’ll evaluate the structural characteristics of banking markets such as comparative banking systems, market structure and regulation, and examine the characteristics of selected banking markets around the world. You’ll examine the role of different types of financial systems and examines competition, costs and profitability, and explore the risk profile of the banking business and shows how banks are regulated at the domestic and international level. Finally, you will consider the influence of the US subprime crisis on global financial turmoil.

INVESTMENT AND RISK MANAGEMENT

Code NBS-7077B

Credits 20

In this module, you will study the advanced investment management theories, models and techniques that have been developed and used in research and by the financial industry. The module is structured in two parts. In the first part, you will deal with investment management practices. You will learn how wealth can be allocated optimally across various types of assets in order to meet different investor objectives. Emphasis will be placed on mainstream objective approaches which assume market efficiency, as well as on possible extensions (e.g. incorporating investor’s views). However, we shall also discuss arguments and evidence related to criticism of these approaches. Assets analysed will include basic traded stock and debt securities along with more complex asset classes (e.g. futures, options). In the second part of the module, you will discuss issues related to risk management. You will study the evolution of risk management and discover the lessons learned from the global financial crisis. Emphasis will be placed on the main types of financial risks which impact portfolio performance locally (e.g. market risk, credit risk) and globally (e.g. foreign exchange risk). The material taught will be aligned closely to the curriculum of the Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) Program and the Chartered Institute for Securities & Investment (CISI).

DISSERTATION

Code NBS-7082X

Credits 60

The dissertation element offers you the opportunity to develop independent research skills on the subject of your choice. it goes much beyond the taught modules in the Master’s programme. it attempts to integrate the knowledge that you’ve acquired from the individual taught modules and take it forward by offering you the necessary skill set to probe a research problem in-depth and come out with contributions that are original in the business management literature.

FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT

Code NBS-7050A

Credits 20

This module aims to develop your critical understanding and appreciation of key finance theories as they apply to financial management decisions and to understand the implications for practical problem solving. The topics you’ll cover include Corporate Investment Policy, Financing of Corporations, Payout Policy, and M&As.This module is taken in conjunction with the module called 'Responsible Business'.

RESPONSIBLE BUSINESS

Code NBS-7051A

Credits 20

This module provides you with the knowledge required to understand issues in corporate governance. Exploring corporate governance developments in different countries will enable you to understand the importance of different institutional settings, the influence of legal, regulatory and political environments, and why differences in ownership structure have arisen and how this impacts on companies. Corporate governance is examined in detail together with topical issues including directors’ remuneration, board diversity, and succession planning. You will also examine topical issues such as corporate restructuring, corporate social responsibility, and competition policy.

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Important Information

Whilst the University will make every effort to offer the modules listed, changes may sometimes be made arising from the annual monitoring, review and update of modules. Where this activity leads to significant (but not minor) changes to programmes and their constituent modules, the University will endeavour to consult with students and others. It is also possible that the University may not be able to offer a module for reasons outside of its control, such as the illness of a member of staff. In some cases optional modules can have limited places available and so you may be asked to make additional module choices in the event you do not gain a place on your first choice. Where this is the case, the University will inform students.

Entry Requirements

Degree classification

Bachelors degree - 2.1 or equivalent

Degree subject

Accounting, Finance, Business, Economics, Management or a degree in a quantitative subject (such as Science or Engineering). NB: There is a numerical content in a range of modules on the course, students need a competent level of numeracy to complete the course

Additional entry requirements

INTO University of East Anglia

If you do not meet the academic requirements for this course, you may be able to study one of the International Graduate Diploma programmes offered by our partner INTO UEA. These programmes guarantee progression to selected master's degrees if students achieve the appropriate grade. For more details please click here:

International Graduate Diploma in Business

Students for whom english is a foreign language

We welcome applications from students whose first language is not English. To ensure such students benefit from postgraduate study, we require evidence of proficiency in English. Our usual entry requirements are as follows:

IELTS: 6.0 (minimum 5.5 in only two components with 6.0 in the others)
PTE (Pearson): 64 (minimum 59 in only two components with 64 in the others)

Test dates should be within two years of the course start date.

Other tests, including Cambridge English exams and the Trinity Integrated Skills in English are also accepted by the university. The full list of accepted tests can be found here: Accepted English Language Tests

INTO UEA also run pre-sessional courses which can be taken prior to the start of your course. For further information and to see if you qualify please contact intopre-sessional@uea.ac.uk

Intakes

This course is open to UK, EU and International applicants. The annual intake for this course is in September each year.

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Norwich Business School Blog

The official blog of Norwich Business School.

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Patrycja Klusak

Course academic

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Norwich Business School Blog

The official blog of Norwich Business School.

READ IT HERE >

We love Norwich

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High quality, supportive & empowering

Academics and MSc students describe their impressions of joining the Norwich Business School international family. Produced by Studious UK

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Course Reference Number: 4478098

MSc BANKING AND FINANCE