University of the West of England

MODULE SPECIFICATION

(Revised November 2002)                   

 

Code:   UPEN48-15-M               Title: Principles and practice of banking              Version: 1       

 

Level:  M                                 UWE credit rating:       15                     ECTS credit rating:      7.5

 

Module type: Standard

 

Owning Faculty: HLSS             Field: Economics         

 

Valid from:       September 2004                        Discontinued from:

 

Pre-requisites:                         None

 

Co-requisites:                           None

 

Excluded combinations:          None    

 

Learning outcomes:

 

Having successfully completed the module, students should be able to:

 

·         Show a critical awareness of the latest literature and current developments in the economic analysis of banking (components A & B).

·         Show a critical awareness of the principles of financial intermediation and the risks to which they give rise (component A)

·         understand the most-recently developed risk assessment techniques employed by banks and the strategies to which they give rise (components A & B)

·         compare and contrast competing models of  the banking firm (component A)

·         understand the current debates about the appropriate regulatory framework and the principles and issues which underlie regulation (component B)

·         understand the role of banks in the money supply/transmission mechanism  (component  B)

·         deal with complex issues and show evidence of self-direction and originality in tackling the problems thrown up by the process of change and innovation in banking (components A & B).

 

 Syllabus outline:        

 

·           Defining a bank. Banking in US, UK and EU.

·           Principles of intermediation.

·           Risks in banking. Risk measurement and control techniques.

·           Models of the banking firm. The Stiglitz view.

·           Regulation of banking activity I – the central bank and domestic regulation.

·           International regulation – Basle I and Basle II.

·           Regulation and the growth of off-balance sheet activity.

·           Banks, money and interest rates.

 

Teaching and learning methods: Several different teaching and learning methods will be used.

 

Lectures will be used to communicate core material and to deal with central concepts and models. Some lectures may be interactive, giving a chance for questioning and debate on economic and financial issues raised in this module. Use may also be made of video recordings, with student tasks being linked where relevant to material in the videos. Seminars will involve a number of different formats as group reporting on case study material, formal debates, discussion of assigned reading and presentations.

 

Indicative sources:

 

E Baltensberger, 1980, ‘Alternative Approaches to the Theory of the Banking Firm’, Journal of                                  Monetary Economics , 6.

Bank for International Settlements, 1990, The Lamfalussy Report, Basle.  

D Chew (ed), 1991, New Developments in Commercial Banking, Blackwell.

J Dermine, 1995, European Banking in the 1990s, Blackwell.

J Dermine and Y F Bissada, 2002,  Asset and Liability Management: A Bankers’ Guide to Value Creation and Risk Control, FT-Prentice Hall.

C A E Goodhart, 1995, The Central Bank and the Financial System, Macmillan.

S I Greenbaum and A V Thakor, 1995, Contemporary Financial Intermediation, Dryden.

S Heffernan, 1996, The Theory and Practice of Banking, Wiley.

A Mullineux, 1995, Financial Innovation, Banking and Monetary Aggregates.

J Stiglitz and B Greenwald, 2001, Towards a New Paradigm in Monetary Economics Cambridge                               UP.

 

Students will be expected to draw on current journal articles from:

 

Applied Economics

Applied Financial Economics

The Banker

Bank of England Quarterly Bulletin

Economic Journal

ECB Monthly Report

European Economic Review

Journal of Post Keynesian Economics

Scottish Journal of Political Economy

 

And from the websites of the Bank of England, the ECB, the BIS and the US Federal Reserve

 

Assessment

 

Weighting between components A and B (standard modules only)   A:  50%   B: 50%

 

ATTEMPT 1

 

First Assessment Opportunity

Component A

Description of each element                                                                Element weighting

1.  Unseen exam, 2hours                                                                                    50%

 

Component B

Description of each element                                                                Element weighting

1.  Individual coursework assignment of up to 1500 words                          50%

 

Second Assessment Opportunity (further attendance at taught classes is not required)

Component A

Description of each element                                                                Element weighting

1.  Unseen exam, 2 hours                                                                                   50%

 

Component B

Description of each element                                                                Element weighting

1.  Individual coursework assignment of up to 1500 words                          50%

 

SECOND (OR SUBSEQUENT) ATTEMPT: Attendance at taught classes is not required.

 

Specification confirmed by  ……………Module approved at VARSC 13.05.04.

 

Date ……………………………

(Associate Dean/Programme Director)