This course introduces the major financial institutions in Canada, the U.S. and other countries. It provides a conceptual framework that can be used to understand why financial institutions exist, how government regulates them, what different functions the different types of financial institutions perform and their future growth prospects. The focus will be on the practical implications of recent innovations in financial theory to the management of interest rate, credit and liquidity risk. It gives detailed knowledge of management techniques that have been adopted by the world’s most progressive financial institutions. This course attempts to blend a descriptive narrative of the operations of the financial system (that is, financial markets and financial institutions) with a sufficient amount of theory to enable students to understand the underlying principles of the financial system. Utilizing the theory and analytical tools presented in this course, students should be able to understand and evaluate events in the financial world and therefore be able to make intelligent, real-world decisions concerning the management of financial institutions. PREREQ: COMM 2025 (min. 60%). (cst 3) cr 3
