Investment Banking 3 s.h.
Investment banks fill critical roles in maintaining well-functioning financial markets and in providing access to capital and strategic advice to companies and governments. They also have found themselves at the center of the recent global financial crisis. This course will examine how the banker’s role as intermediary between companies and markets both adds value and creates conflicts and risk. The course will begin with a review of the structure, functional organization and inner workings of an investment bank as well as the external forces that affect banks, including clients, competitors, markets and regulatory framework. We will then look at the process of doing a deal from inception through pricing and distribution with a focus on debt transactions and on the internal and external interactions and considerations necessary to bring the deal to fruition. We will also assess the role of innovation and financial product development in the industry. Using this knowledge, we will then consider the causes of the financial markets crisis as well as future challenges and opportunities for the industry.