Global Financial Management
FNBU 3444 L01 & L02
COURSE SYLLABUS
Instructor:
Email:
Office/Phone:
Prof. Ken Lobo
klobo@fordham.edu
914-584-0461 (text only, please)
Term:
Class Days:
Class Time:
Office Hours:
Tuesday 10.30-11.30, I will also make myself available
for discussions, by appointment.
Class Location:
Fall 2023
Tuesday
L01: 11.30-2.15
L02: 2.30 – 5.15
Course Overview:
This course addresses the problems faced by an international banker, business executive or a
financial officer of a multinational firm. The goal of this course is to explain the concepts of
corporate finance and their applications in an international setting. It emphasizes financial decisions
not usually considered by managers of purely domestic firms including exchange rate fluctuations,
capita and tax structures across countries, and economic and political risk.
We will examine opportunities and problems that are faced specifically by multinational and foreign
corporations and will compare corporate finance practices around the world. The course focuses on
identification, measurement and management of exchange rate international capital budgeting,
determination of the international cost of capital; capital budgeting global financing; and designing
financial structure, and valuation of foreign investments
Required Textbooks:
(IFM) INTERNATIONAL FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT 10e by Eun/Resnick/Chuluun CONNECT online
access
ISBN 9781265413309 (note this is an online “Smart-book” version of the textbook)
(RWJ) Fundamentals of Corporate Finance, 12th edition, Ross, Westerfield, and Jordan, published by
McGraw-Hill. Earlier editions are also acceptable. This is probably the textbook you used in FNBU
3221. You are not required to purchase this book but will need to refer to it for some cases or to
research corporate finance topics covered in class
Cases in corporate finance will assigned for the course and will be posted on Blackboard
Course Objectives:
The course aims at introducing the tools and techniques for financial decision making in an
international or global set-up. The course will be of the lecture format primarily, though there will be
a few case discussions. While we will have two objectives in this course: International Finance and
Corporate Finance, I will blend both so that students will learn the global aspect of traditional
corporate finance. The first half of the course will be concerned with international financial markets
and its application in the corporate world including exchange rates, pricing, taxation, and capital
structure. The second half will be concerned with capital budgeting, hedging and corporate financing:
e.g., how should corporate managers determine capital structure and financing decisions.
Prerequisites:
FNBU 3221 Financial Management, FNBU 3443 Global Business Economics and Trade as well as
relevant Microeconomics and Macroeconomics courses
Grading:
Grades will be calculated as follows:
Assessment
Percent of Final Grade
1. Quizzes (20%) and Assignments (10%)
2. Case Studies
30%
10%
3. Midterm and Final Exam (20% each)
40%
4. Class Participation/Discussion (10%*2)
20%
100%
Quizzes (30%) will be “take-home” but for the Mid-term and Final exams students will need to bring
in a PC and take these exams in class.
Cases (10%)will be posted on Blackboard and students MUST submit their analysis prior to class
and participate in the case discussion in class.
Discussion Board (10%): I will regularly post articles relevant to the class on Blackboard.
Students will need to review these articles and post comments
Class Participation (10%): Students are expected to actively participate in class discussions, we
will discuss current topics in each class.
Depending on how the class is performing, I may provide an opportunity for extra credit work.
Readings
1. The textbooks for the course: International Financial Management by Cheol Eun and Bruce
Resnik 10th edition. We will be using McGrawHill Connect version of this textbook. You
can purchase this directly from the publisher. Students must use this version as all
Assignments and Tests will be online and incorporated in Connect.
2. Specific chapters of the Fundamentals of Corporate Finance, 12th edition, Ross, Westerfield,
and Jordan, published by McGraw-Hill. You may have covered many chapters of this book in
your FNBU 3221 course. You don’t need the Connect version for this text book
3. This will be supplemented by other readings designed to emphasize certain issues and to
present different points of view. Regular reading of the business press (e.g. Business Week,
Wall Street Journal, The Economist, etc.) is strongly recommended. Specific readings will be
posted in the Group Discussion for review and comments. Participation will be graded. Most
materials used in class are available on blackboard.
4. We will also discuss several cases related to corporate finance. These will be posted on
Blackboard
1. Online, Synchronous teaching: In the unlikely event that our class needs to move away from inclass teaching, due to inclement weather or other circumstance which prevent physical presence in
the class room. we will use Zoom and students will need to have access to a PC with a working
camera and microphone as well as access to the internet.
2. Office Hours : I will set aside Tuesday 10.30-11.30 am for any pre-arranged specific meetings.
Additionally, I am also willing to meet via phone or Zoom or phone with students individually or in
teams, by appointment.
3. Honor Code: Unless I specifically give you permission to work on something together, you are
expected to work on your own. All materials submitted for grading must be pledged. Homework is
due when it is requested in class.
4. Both mid-term exam and final exams are closed book. Make-up exam and make-up quiz will not
be given except for extreme emergencies, in which case the times and the formats of the makeup
exams are at my discretion. Weekly online assignments and quizzes are to be expected. These will be
graded and have been structured to support the students’ learning of the material and testing the level
of your understanding.
5. Violation of academic standards will result in a grade of “F” for the course.
6. An important complement to class work is following the financial news. One obvious source of
information is the Wall Street Journal and its European counterpart, the Financial Times. The
business section of the New York Times is very informative, as well as weekly magazines such as
the Business Week. The Economist is possibly the best weekly journal and I encourage students to
get a trial subscription for the period of this semester. The internet also offers substantial information
resources such as Bloomberg and Reuters. We will start each class with a discussion of the week’s
news and its applicability to the material we are covering as well as to your specific projects. Active
participation is encouraged.
7. Active and constructive class participation in case discussion sessions will help your final grade. I
will post a class participation update halfway through the semester so you have a heads up regarding
your performance. Students will not be allowed to use their PCs or phones during class times, unless
you have prior permission from me for any exception.
Course Policies:
1. Attendance Policy: Students are expected to attend every class. Absences will be excused only if
they are due to a religious holiday, serious illness, death in the student's immediate family, or
required participation in a university-sponsored event. All requests to have an absence excused must
be processed through the Core Program Administrator who will notify your instructor. Once an
absence is excused, the student will be given an opportunity to make up any missed class
examinations or other graded assignments.
2. Absences due to any other reasons than those listed above will be considered unexcused. Each
student can have one unexcused absence from an integrated core course without effect on her/his
grade. For each additional unexcused absence, a student’s course grade will be reduced a half letter
grade.
3. Students are expected to arrive to class on time and are expected to remain in the classroom for the
full time period. Violations will impact class participation grades. Students leaving the room at times
other than the break or prior to the end of class will be considered late for that class and it will also
impact their participation grade. USE OF PCs and PHONES DURING CLASS HOURS IS NOT
ALLOWED (Except where PCs are required for in-class Exams)
4. Fordham University’s Policy on the Integrity of Full-Time Study: Fordham University cannot
compromise on its objective of the honest and wholehearted pursuit of academic excellence. Students
must guard against allowing outside activities, including part-time employment, from interfering
unduly with their academic pursuits. Full-time student status means just that. Therefore, students
should not compromise their academic careers by losing sight of the primary objective of academic
excellence.
5. Professionalism Policy: Students are expected to practice professional and courteous deportment
during class. Students are encouraged to participate in class discussion. I repeat: no use of PCs
(except for in-class exams) and phones in the class unless you have special permission from the
instructor.
6. Fordham University’s Academic Conduct Policy: In this course—and in every course—you are
expected to abide by Fordham University’s Code of Conduct which includes, but is not limited to,
the following Standards of Academic Integrity:
University Policy regarding Disability Services:
1. If you are a student with a documented disability and require academic accommodations, you need
to register with the Office of Disability Services for Students (ODS) in order to request academic
accommodations for your courses. Please contact the main ODS office at Rose Hill at 718-817-0655
to arrange services. Staff at ODS can walk you through the process and arrange appointments
depending on which campus you take courses at. Accommodations are not retroactive, so you need to
register with ODS prior to receiving your accommodations. Please see me after class or during office
hours if you have questions or would like to submit your academic accommodation letter to me if
you are already registered for accommodations with Fordham.
2. Therefore, if you are not already registered with the Office of Disability Services, please make an
appointment to register ASAP and bring me your accommodations letter as soon as you receive it
from ODS.
Tentative Course Outline (Subject to change)
The course outline provides a general guideline for the course; deviations may be necessary. Any
schedule or other changes will be announced in class, and all students are responsible for the
announced changes regardless of whether she/he is in the class at the time of the announcement. This
includes announcements made in the first night of class
We will cover the following topics:
1. Currency Markets hedging foreign exchange exposures.
2. Corporate Finance techniques, international capital budgeting and cross border valuation
3. International cost of capital
4. International banking and valuation of companies
5. International Financing, interest rate parity and managing risk exposures.
Class 1 Global Exchange Rate and Multinational Governance, Financial statements and
valuation of cashflows Overview
 This first class is an overview of these chapters, students should read them in advance
 Globalization of finance, IMF and country balance of payments
 International corporate governance: students should research firms and the causes of
breakdown in corporate governance on the internet prior to class
 Read: IFM, Ch. 1, 2, 3, 4,
 Review RWJ Ch 1-6
Class 2 & 3 Foreign Exchange Market
 Spot and Forward Markets, Exchange Rates, and Interest Rates
 Case Study
 Read: IFM, Ch. 5 & 6, Assignments, and quizzes on Connect
Class 4 & 5 Currency Forward, currency Futures and interest rate Parity
 FX Derivative Market, Hedging and Speculation
 Read: IFM, Ch. 7 & 8 Assignments, and quizzes on Connect
 Read RWJ Ch. 7, 8, 21
 Case study
Class 5 & 6: Management of Transactions, Translation and Economic Exposure:
 Read: IFM, Ch. 9 & 10, Assignments, and quizzes on Connect
 Case Study
Class 7: Mid-term exam in-class (IFM Chapters 5-10):
 Case Study
 Read: IFM, Ch. 11, 12,
Class 8 & 9 World Financial Markets and Institutions
 International Banking, Global Bond and Equity markets
 Read: IFM, Ch. 13, 14, 16 (cross-border M&A) Assignments and quizzes on Connect
 Read RWJ Ch. 7, 8 and 15
 Case Study
Class 10 and 11: International Capital Budgeting:
 Read: IFM, Ch. 18 and 19, Assignments and quizzes on Connect
 Capital Budgeting from RWJ Ch. 9, 10, 11
 Case Study
Class 12 and 13: International Cost of Capital and Valuation of Companies
 Read: IFM, Ch. 17, 19 Assignments, and quizzes on Connect
 Cost of Capital from RWJ Ch. 14, 15, 26
 Case Study
Class 13 and 14: Financing in International Markets:
 Read: IFM, Ch. 20 and 21, Assignments and quizzes on Connect
 Raising Capital from RWJ Ch. 15, 16, 18-20, 21, 22
 Case Study
Class 15: Final Exam