- Enseignant-e: Michal Paserman
Financial crises are a recurring feature of the financial system, dating back to the earliest development of money and financial markets. Each crisis is a complex and multifaceted phenomenon, differing in origin, scale, and form. Despite these differences, financial crises tend to exhibit common underlying elements and patterns. Furthermore, the frequency of such events has remained relatively consistent throughout history.
The course will begin by exploring the economic theories and empirical research on financial crises. Participants will examine historical analogies and patterns across various markets and time periods to build a foundational understanding.
We will then shift to a practical focus: a series of in-depth case studies presented by senior financial professionals. These industry experts will share their firsthand experiences navigating major financial crises, offering valuable insights and lessons drawn from key events that shaped their careers and institutions.
- Enseignant-e: Michal Paserman
- Enseignant-e: Lilach Zacharia-Trabelsi
This course is designed to allow incoming students lay the groundwork for their learning before the program starts. It aims to bring students from different academic backgrounds up to speed with the basic concepts and skills in statistics and finance, and enable them a smoother transition into the GEMFIN program.
- Enseignant-e: Harald Hau
First, it familiarizes students with important issues in international finance. It covers a wide range of very different topics with “research potential”, for example the stability of a currency union; speculative attacks and arbitrage; exogenous shocks and their real effects; issues related to finance, politics, and development; financial crisis and contagion; financial stability and regulation; exchange rate dynamics and international asset holdings.
A second important course objective is to educate doctoral students on what characterizes successful research in terms of the question asked, the available data structure, the execution strategy, and overall relevance of the findings. Each student is expected to give multiple presentation from a list of recent research paper and evaluate why a particular paper deserved publication and was impactful.
There is no text book for this course. The course material draws on a number of academic papers listed below. The papers are available on the web.
- Enseignant-e: Judit Kozenkow
- Enseignant-e: Michal Paserman
This course explores the implications and applications of new disruptive digital technologies in the financial services sector. We review the main digital technologies, including Artificial Intelligence, distributed ledger technologies and Internet of Things, that are accelerating innovation in financial services. By applying the six core functions of financial services (capital raising, deposits and lending, insurance, investment management, payments, and market provisioning) as a framework, we analyze new products, applications, processes, and business models that have been modifying the traditional banking and financial services and have created a new generation of businesses developing and applying financial technological (FinTech) innovations. The course combines theoretical knowledge with case studies, practical examples, and class exercises. It aims at enhancing the students' understanding of FinTech.
- Enseignant-e: Safwan Mchawrab
- Enseignant-e: Michal Paserman
This course of the GEMFIN executive program, aim to provide students with a practical understanding of an Investment Banking environment, through a financial simulation.
Through this module, students will explore Investment Banking environment by playing the role of interns in charge providing financial services and financial advisory (Debt Underwriting, Sell Side, Buy Side, Fairness Opinion, Acquisition, Divestiture, Derivatives, Debt Restructuring and Corporate Negotiations). Students are spread over different teams, and compete against each other. The financial simulation is run over various round, where each round covers a set of transactions/decisions to be undertaken by each team. At the end of each round, each team is invited to submit a summary of the decisions undertaken, highlight and justify the assumptions retained in a memo, and provide an excel spreadsheet for financial modelling (excel and memo template provided).
This module will use the “Finsimco” simulation interface. Students will receive guidance and financial documents through the platform. They are as well expected to submit their decisions, memos and excel spreadsheets using the palteform.
On completion of this module the student should:
· Understand the role of investment banking Industry and distinguish between its different divisions
· Practice in a real life simulation major financial transactions
· Practice financial modeling and run different valuation process
· Practice negotiation and deal structuring
· Build a dynamic spreadsheet (Excel), compute the compensation and measure of management the financial performance of funds.
- Enseignant-e: Safwan Mchawrab
- Enseignant-e: Michal Paserman
Mergers and acquisitions (M&A) are increasingly the most important corporate restructuring activities in terms of number of deals and volume over the last 60 years. The amount of money and resources spent on M&A, the complexity of the process, the different waves occurred and consequently their impact on both local and global economy, made them subject to vast number of studies and research around of the world, upon different disciplinary perspectives (strategy, finance, organization, etc.). M&A activities are also viewed to be among the most important events in a company’s lifecycle taken in consideration their strategic, financial and operating impact.
The course aims at presenting the strategic and financial logic of these transactions as well as the main financial engineering techniques used in valuation of companies (target) and synergies. The course tackles M&A characteristics: legal forms and classification, reasons to acquire, market reaction, expected gains from mergers, exchange ratios.
On completion of this course, the students should be able to:
- understand the economic importance of the process of mergers and acquisitions,
- evaluate a company (target) using different techniques,
- estimate the value of synergies
identify tactics and defense techniques that can be used in case of hostile takeovers
- Enseignant-e: Michal Paserman
This course aims to explore the major areas of fintech, the ways in which they are disrupting the financial services industry, and the challenges and opportunities they create.
We will start with a review of the structure of the financial sector as we have known it over the last century. We will then cover the main areas of fintech innovations and understand the three levels in which fintech is reshaping it: closing gaps, evolution, and revolution. We will see how these affect individuals, firms, financial markets, and economies.
Finally, we will discuss regulators’ efforts to integrate all this progress into a modern free market, enable fair conduct, and contribute to a stable and sustainable growth of the global economy.
- Enseignant-e: Peter Bossaerts
The course covers developments in decision theory over the last 50 years or so, and how these have impacted fields as diverse as finance & economics, control theory, psychology, neurobiology and artificial intelligence, and why the resulting insights may soon lead (or have already led) to a complete re-thinking of decision theory.
- Enseignant-e: Harald Hau
This first core course of the GEMFIN executive program familiarizes students with key concepts in project and company valuation. It also discusses issue related to private equity investment based on case studies. The course takes a systematic approach in which the major valuation techniques are discussed with their advantages and drawback and if and how capital structure influences valuation. A basic knowledge of statistical and econometric inference is helpful.