Economics of Financial Intermediaries

On successful completion of this course, students should be able to understand the core principles of banking and finance, which are essential to the real economy: 1) understand how financial intermediaries work, what are the main drivers; 2) understand the basic issues involved in how financial markets and intermediaries finance the real economy 3) understand the drivers of financial crisis. Furthermore, they should be able to complement law topics with a financial approach, using appropriate financial notions and language.

- Knowledge and understanding: on successful completion of this course, students should be able to complement legal topics with the knowledge of financial markets and intermediaries. On this note both general and specific topics are provided: the framework where financial intermediaries - banks, financial firms, money and portfolio managers, investment and index funds, pension funds, insurance companies - operate; regulation and supervision.
- Applying knowledge and understanding: students should be able to apply theoretical knowledge to case studies and practical examples related to the main technical features of banks and financial intermediaries.
- Making judgements: active learning methodology helps students to learn the ability to identify and use data to formulate responses to well-defined financial problems.
- Communication: the course encourages students to communicate about their understanding, skills and activities encouraging guided class discussion and through case studies, and problem sets.
- Lifelong learning skills: on successful completion of this class, students can appreciate the core principles of banking and finance, then examine these models with real-world scenarios. Empirical applications of themes help students develop essential critical-thinking and problem-solving skills, preparing them for future legal careers in business and finance areas.