Financial markets around the world have become more accessible than ever before. And yet every country is different, with its own set of financial, accounting, legal and fiscal systems, and its own cultural norms. Can we use the same corporate finance concepts when we cross borders?
This course introduces students to corporate financial decision making in an international context. We will study the most important financial decisions the corporations make: capital structure, risk management, capital raising, mergers and acquisitions. These decisions will be embedded in a global setting with its own challenges of political and exchange rate risk and differing corporate governance standards. Along the way, students will learn about the legal framework of the firm as well as more technical aspects of valuation and risk management techniques.
The aim of this course is to introduce students to key concepts in international corporate finance and to enable them to formulate strategies in international finance and investment. As an introductory course, it is not necessary that students have a background in Finance. Expect this to be an interactive class: we will take the perspective of corporate financial managers and discuss actual case studies together. These are set around the world, with a focus on Asia: we will examine real decisions made in India, Russia, Venezuela, Japan, Vietnam, and China. In addition, students will formulate strategy recommendations for real companies, with the goal of developing real shareholder proposals.
Click here to see the full course outline
Dr Moqi Groen-Xu is an assistant professor in the Department of Finance at the London School of Economics. Her research focuses on CEO contracts, compensation, shareholder activism, proxy voting, and investor relations. Dr Groen-Xu joined the LSE in 2011 with a PhD from INSEAD, France. Prior to her academic career, she worked as a consultant with McKinsey and Company, the global managment consultancy.
Moqi tweets under @moqixu and blogs at www.moqixu.com.
"Dr Moqi Xu structured the course exceptionally well. Both her outstanding industry knowledge and financial insight made for a highly educational experience. It was a pleasure to be among such an intellectual and internationally diverse peer group, all whom brought a unique input onto the programme. My most enjoyable aspects of the programme were: critically analysing the international case studies - spanning from Venezuela to China – and undertaking the course assignment. I was able to apply financial methods in valuation, risk, financial law and capital structure to propose a strategy to improve the value of a South African firm." Rishi Nagar, King’s College London, UK
There are no prerequisites for this course.
Assessment will be based on an assignment as a mid-term examination (worth 50% of final mark) and a final examination (worth 50% of final mark). For the assignment, students study an assigned real company and develop a recommendation for its strategy. Details about the assignment will be given at the beginning of the course. The final examination will consist of a real case which students will be asked to evaluate using the tools and concepts learned in class.
The list below provides an indication of some of the main recommended texts for the course, but a full reading list and electronic course pack will be provided to registered students approximately six weeks before the beginning of the programme. Interested students can consult the following textbooks (not mandatory):
- Ross, Westerfield, and Jaffe, Corporate Finance: Core Principles and Applicaions, Global Edition, 3 rd edition, McGraw - Hill 2011. (RWJ)
- Eiteman, Stonehill, and Moffett, Multinational Business Finance, 13 th ed., Prentice Hall 2013. (ESM)
- Ian Giddy, Global Financial Markets, Heather 1994. (G)