Financial markets, institutions and companies

The course covers 4 main chapters described in more detail below. They approach the financial sphere from different angles. The aim of the course is therefore to understand the global functioning of the financial sphere and the interconnections between the different actors of finance. To do this, a part of the course is devoted to the examination of the financial crisis of 2008, to its foundations, insofar as it illustrates perfectly the interconnection of the actors of finance. 1. Financial markets: the aim is twofold: 1. Examine the different financial products, identify the differences between them: shares, bonds, investment funds, convertible bonds, derivatives, structured products, trackers, etc. 2. Examine the functioning of a financial market: spot market, futures market, centralised or decentralised market, etc. 2. Money and central banks 1. Defining money: historical perspective, function, past and future developments 2. Characteristics of a central bank in relation to other financial institutions, role, function and operation of a central bank 3. Understanding monetary policy: objective, instrument, transmission channels of monetary policy 4. Case study: monetary policy of the European Central Bank. 3. The banks 1. How a bank works: basic balance sheet 2. Banking intermediation 3. Off-balance sheet transactions 4. Regulatory framework: evolution of prudential rules in the context of the Basel agreements. 5. Case study: Bank management exercise 4. The 2008 financial crisis 1. Putting it into historical perspective 2. Development of the crisis (liquidity crisis, crisis of confidence), reactions of the various authorities and financial markets 3. Beyond the financial crisis: the crisis of debt and 'risk-free' bonds. 4. General conclusions of the course