BAFN205 - Financial Instruments and Institutions

Year

Credit points

Campus offering

Prerequisites

Nil

Teaching organisation

150 hours over a twelve-week semester or equivalent study period

Unit rationale, description and aim

This unit is the foundation for understanding the role of financial instruments and institutions in the financial system. Students need to understand the concepts of financial instruments, sources of finance and how to raise finance, superannuation, asset-liability management of financial institutions, management of loan portfolio, interest rate risk, capital adequacy and standards, and financial inclusion to maximise access to financial services, including those who are vulnerable and marginalised. Students need to compare and contrast the role of banks and non-banking financial institutions in the financial system. Students will further develop skills in managing financial institutions. Students will be able to apply asset-liability management techniques to generate the capital plans of financial institutions to withstand during crisis and non-crisis periods.

Learning outcomes

To successfully complete this unit you will be able to demonstrate you have achieved the learning outcomes (LO) detailed in the below table.

Each outcome is informed by a number of graduate capabilities (GC) to ensure your work in this, and every unit, is part of a larger goal of graduating from ACU with the attributes of insight, empathy, imagination and impact.

Explore the graduate capabilities.

On successful completion of this unit, students should be able to:

LO1 - Describe how financial institutions apply asset, liability and capital management techniques to manage cost structures and strategies whilst contributing to financial inclusion (GA2, GA5)

LO2 - Analyse the term structure of interest rates as the main instruments of the money and capital markets (GA5, GA9)

LO3 - Analyse the size, structure and composition of local and international financial markets and institutions and the role of financial markets (GA5, GA6)

LO4 - Evaluate the RBA’s, ASIC’s, The Treasury’s and APRA’s policies in relation to the regulation of Australian financial institutions (GA5, GA8)

LO5 - Generate capital adequacy plans for financial institutions by working collaboratively (GA5, GA7)

Graduate attributes

GA2 - Recognise their responsibility to the common good, the environment and society

GA5 - Demonstrate values, knowledge, skills and attitudes appropriate to the discipline and/or profession

GA6 - Solve problems in a variety of settings taking local and international perspectives into account

GA7 - Work both autonomously and collaboratively

GA8 - Locate, organise, analyse, synthesise and evaluate information

GA9 - Demonstrate effective communication in oral and written English language and visual media

Content

Topics will include: 

• Australian financial institutions
• Australian payments system 
• interest rate determination
• the term structure of interest rates 
• local and national financial markets 
• investment and commercial banking industry 
• RBA, APRA and ASIC regulatory requirements for financial institutions
• capital standards: Basel II and Basel III 
• financial inclusion: Preferential option for the poor and vulnerable (e.g., SDG 1. No Poverty, SDG 8. Economic growth and decent employment for all)

Learning and teaching strategy and rationale

ACU’s teaching policy focuses on learning outcomes for students. Our teaching aims to engage students as active participants in the learning process while acknowledging that all learning must involve a complex interplay of active and receptive processes, constructing meaning for oneself, and learning from others. ACU promotes and facilitates learning that is autonomous and self-motivated, is characterised by the individual taking satisfaction in the mastering of content and skills and is critical, looking beneath the surface level of information for the meaning and significance of what is being studied.

The schedule of the workshop is designed in such a way that students can achieve intended learning outcomes sequentially. Teaching and learning activities will apply the experiential learning model, which encourages students to apply higher-order thinking. The unit ensures that learning activities involve real-world scenarios that assist with ‘real-world’ preparedness. The unit also uses a scaffolding technique that builds a student’s skills and prepares them for the next learning process phase.

This unit is structured with required upfront preparation before workshops, and most students report that they spend an average of one hour preparing before the workshop and one or more hours after the workshop practicing and revising what was covered. The online learning platforms used in this unit provide multiple forms of preparatory and practice opportunities for students to prepare and revise. It is up to individual students to ensure that the out of the class study is adequate for the optimal learning outcomes and successes.

Mode of delivery: This unit is offered in different modes. These are: “Attendance” mode, “Blended” mode and “Online” mode. This unit is offered in three modes to cater to the learning needs and preferences of a range of participants and maximise effective participation for isolated and/or marginalised groups.

Attendance Mode

In a weekly attendance mode, students will require face-to-face attendance in specific physical location/s. Students will have face-to-face interactions with lecturer(s) to further their achievement of the learning outcomes. The online learning platforms used in this unit provide multiple forms of preparatory and practice opportunities for students to prepare and revise.

Blended Mode

In a blended mode, students will require intermittent face-to-face attendance determined by the School. Students will have face-to-face interactions with lecturer(s) to further their achievement of the learning outcomes. This unit is structured with required upfront preparation before workshops. The online learning platforms used in this unit provide multiple forms of preparatory and practice opportunities for students to prepare and revise.

Online Mode

In an Online mode, students are given the opportunity to attend facilitated synchronous online seminar classes with other students and participate in the construction and synthesis of knowledge, while developing their knowledge. Students are required to participate in a series of online interactive workshops which include activities, knowledge checks, discussion and interactive sessions. This approach allows flexibility for students and facilitates learning and participation for students with a preference for virtual learning.

Assessment strategy and rationale

Assessments are used primarily to foster learning. ACU adopts a constructivist approach to learning that seeks alignment between the fundamental purpose of each unit, the learning outcomes, teaching and learning strategy, assessment and the learning environment. In order to pass this unit, students must demonstrate competence in all learning outcomes and achieve an overall score of at least 50%. Using constructive alignment, the assessment tasks are designed for students to demonstrate their achievement of each learning outcome.

The same assessment regime applies to all learning modes.

Overview of assessments

Representative texts and references

Viney C & Phillips PJ 2019, Financial institutions, instruments & markets, (9th ed.), McGraw Hill Australia. (ISBN: 9781760422943).

Saunders, A. et al. 2020, Financial institutions management: a risk management approach, (10th ed.) McGraw-Hill.

Akhtaruzzaman, M., Chiah, M., Docherty, P., & Zhong, A. (2021). Betting against bank profitability. Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, 192, 304-323.

Akhtaruzzaman, M., Boubaker, S., & Sensoy, A. (2021). Financial contagion during COVID–19 crisis. Finance Research Letters, 38, 101604.

Elekdag, S., Malik, S., & Mitra, S. (2020). Breaking the bank? A probabilistic assessment of Euro area bank profitability. Journal of Banking & Finance, 120, 105949.