B541 Special Topics in Banking and Finance
Fall 2011
Class Time and Instructor
Instructor: Sung Won Sohn, Ph.D/ www.DrSohn.com
Classes: Thursdays, 6:00 to 10:00 pm
Course Location: Thousand oaks Campus
Contact Information
Phone: 805 437 2789
Email: sung.sohn@csuci.edu
Cases and Articles
The course materials come from the following sources:
1. Financial Institutions Management by Anthony Saunders and Marcia Million Cornett, 7th Ed,
McGraw Hill Irwin
2. The Internet (Free)/ Basics for Bank Directors
(BFBD)(http://www.kansascityfed.org/Publicat/BasicsforBankDirectors/BasicsforBankDirectors.pd
f)
3. Cases from Harvard Business School (HBS) purchased at bookstore
Office Hours
Thursdays 5:00 to 6:00 pm or by appointment at TO Campus
Learning Objective
There are two main areas the course will go into: current topics and understanding banking as well as
finance.
1. Current topics: Each session, we will spend up to 30 minutes discussing the important economic
issues of the week impacting the financial markets and the economy.
2. Financial institutions have played an important role in the recent financial crisis and the current
economic condition. Every individual and business must interact with banks. Each week we will
study and learn how a bank operates and make decisions. In addition, we will use Harvard
Business School cases.
Basis for Evaluation
The grade is based on one mid-term exam (35 percent), one final exam (35 percent), class participation
(10 percent) and a student paper (20 percent). The exams will be essay-style covering everything we
discuss in class.
Paper
Students are encouraged to find a real business and write a real-life case study related to banking and
finance. Preferably, it should be a small business (not listed company), someone you know locally. The
grade will be based on writing style (organization, clarity, ease of reading) and contents (What made the
business successful or failure? How can we apply the tools we learned in class to this business to improve
the operation).
What should you do to succeed in this course?
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Come to Class and Participate: Attendance is required. Class participation (10 percent of your
grade) could be important. Missing class means missing valuable discussion, and information
regarding assignments. Please note that this is not intended to be a lecture class. I will lead the
discussions but students should participate actively.
Read the Cases and articles: They are very valuable sources of information and clarification.
Class discussion will be based on your readings. Harvard Business School cases are not intended
to be lectures. Your contribution in class is the key to the success of learning.
Get started on your paper early.
Academic Honesty
All work that students submit as their own work must, in fact, be their own work. Verbatim
language taken from other sources -- books, papers, web sites, people, etc. -- must be placed in
quotation marks and the source identified. Similarly, work on tests and exams must be the
student's own work, not copied or taken from other students' work.
In accordance with the CSU Channel Islands policy on academic dishonesty, students in this
course who submit the work of others as their own (plagiarize), cheat on tests or examinations,
help other students cheat or plagiarize, or commit other acts of academic dishonesty will receive
appropriate academic penalties, up to and including failing the course.
Assignments or papers with plagiarized language or ideas will receive a failing grade. Plagiarism
or cheating on quizzes or exams will also result in a failing grade. In cases where the cheating or
plagiarism was premeditated or planned, students may receive an F for the course.
Students are encouraged to consult with the instructor on when and how to document sources if
they have questions about what might constitute an act of plagiarism or cheating.
Course Schedule
The schedule below is flexible. For some chapters and cases, we can spend more than indicated here. The
objective is learning, not necessarily adhering to a rigid schedule.
Week 1: Saunders: Chapters 2, 4
East West Bank Earnings Release (www.eastwestbank.com) for 2Q 2011 See the press release
Week 2: Saunders: Chapters 7, 8
BFBD (Basics for Bank Directors) pages 10-11 and 85-94 (also in week 3)
(http://www.kansascityfed.org/Publicat/BasicsforBankDirectors/BasicsforBankDirectors.pdf)
pages 1-22
Week 3: BFBD: Pages 85-94
Saunders: Chapters 8, 9
Week 4: Credit Analysis: materials to be supplied by the instructor.
Week 5: Continue credit analysis discussion and Leasing (www.lease-vs-buy.com)
Week 6: Midterm Exam, Nov 10th. This is flexible depending on progress.
Week 7: Saunders: Chapter 17
BFBD pages 73-85
HBS: Wells Fargo and Norwest (A) #HR-26A
Week 8: Thanksgiving
Week 9: Saunders: Chapter 20
BFBD pages 24-34
HBS: Shinhan Financial Group(A) #9-305-075
Week 10: Saunders: Chapters 25, 26
HBS: New Century Financial Group #9-109-034
Week 11: Final Exam December 15
Week 12: Student Paper Presentation December 22