Bachelor of Science in Management of Financial Institutions

Degree Codes: Program- BSFIN Plan- BSFIN

 

The Management of Financial Institutions (MFI) Program was launched in 1976 to answer the financial management needs of Philippine financial intermediaries and other Philippine businesses. While the major focus of the original program, which seeks to develop graduates with excellent decision-making, problem-solving solving and analytical abilities, remains basically unchanged, the present program aims to support the Department of Financial Management’s vision in response to the formidable challenges of the financial services industry.

The Department of Financial Management’s vision is to position DLSU as a leading institution offering formal training for future financial service career executives responsive to the changing needs of the financial service businesses in the Philippines and the Asia-Pacific Region. The present program aims to train and develop future managers and professionals on the various skills, applied principles, and strategies necessary for effective decision-making. Specifically, the program intends to strengthen the graduates’ foundation on the quantitative and empirical research tools; sharpen their understanding of changing financial regulations, markets, products and risks; deepen their appreciation of the functional management areas in the more specialized financial services disciplines (such as investment banking, treasury management and risk management), and allow them to integrate disciplines from strategic perspectives.

Total Academic Units 179 units
Total Non-Academic Units 9 units
Total 188 units
Total number of terms 11 terms

 

Other requirements:

  • 2 Electives (6 units)
  • Thesis
  • Practicum (600 hours)

Description of Core Finance Courses:

BUSINESS MATHEMATICS AND FINANCE (FDNBUSF) 

3 units

This is a foundation course that covers theories of investment mathematics and their application to banking and business transactions. Students will learn the rudiments of financial mathematics, including types of interest and their applications, annuities, periodic loan payments, and financial statement interpretation. The course provides essential quantitative skills necessary for advanced finance studies and practical business applications.

  • Pre-requisite: NONE

FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT (FMDFINA) 

3 units

This is a core course that builds upon FDNBUSF foundations to facilitate understanding of financial asset valuation and capital budgeting with the objective of maximizing shareholder wealth. Students will learn to evaluate investment risks and returns, value financing sources such as bonds and stocks, estimate the cost of capital, apply the tax implications of debt and equity financing, estimate cash flows, and utilize appropriate capital budgeting techniques for long-term investment decisions.

  • Pre-requisite: FDNBUSF

ADVANCED FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT (FINADVA) 

3 units

This is an advanced course designed to address sophisticated topics and analytical tools that build upon material covered in FMDFINA. Students will learn to analyze dividend policy, conduct advanced risk analysis in capital budgeting, examine multinational financial management, utilize financial derivatives for corporate risk management, evaluate hybrid financing options, and develop trading strategy plans incorporating behavioral finance principles.

  • Pre-requisite: FMDFINA

MANAGEMENT OF BANKS AND FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS (FINBAFI)

3 units

This course provides students with the necessary concepts, principles, and techniques for sourcing and allocating bank funds to maximize shareholders’ wealth while maintaining adequate liquidity consistent with acceptable levels of risk. As banking continues to be an industry in flux, FINBAFI logically begins by familiarizing students with the financial environment in which bank managers must operate, including the structure, functions, and operations of financial intermediaries. It is the end view of the course to challenge students, as prospective bankers, to confront head-on the strategic issues of risk, return, regulation, competition, technology, and globalization that face and shape the past, present, and future of the banking industry as a whole.

  • Pre-requisite: FMDFINA

FINANCIAL STATEMENT ANALYSIS (FINFSAF) 

3 units

This course is designed to provide students with the knowledge and skills necessary to analyze the financial statements of modern financial institutions, specifically banks, insurance companies, securities firms, investment houses, mutual fund management companies, and finance companies, from the users’ point of view. Such analysis shall focus on the financial institutions’ goal of not just maximizing their value but bearing and managing risk on behalf of customers through the pooling of risks and sale of their services as risk specialists. The students will learn to construct and analyze financial statements, prepare financial plans, manage working capital, apply time value of money concepts to business situations, determine cost of capital and the value of securities, utilize appropriate capital budgeting techniques for long-term investments, and determine optimal capital structure.

  • Pre-requisite: FINBAFI

CAPITAL MARKETS (FINCPMA) 

3 units

This course discusses the concepts and theories related to the Capital Market. It includes the identification of financial institutions that are active in capital market activities. It covers an analysis of the investment trends that are part of the financial environment. It also deals with investment processes, government regulations, and policies related to capital market transactions. The course develops students’ critical thinking abilities through various financial case presentations. The course covers the major financial markets and instruments that comprise the capital markets, including bonds, stocks, and derivatives. Topics covered include capital asset pricing model, asset pricing theory, efficient markets theory, behavioral finance, models for portfolio selection, options and futures, business ethics, and corporate governance.

  • Pre-requisite: FINBAFI, FINADVA

FINANCIAL MATHEMATICS (FINAMAT) 

3 units

This course delves into advanced quantitative concepts and models essential for understanding and navigating the complex world of finance. Students will explore topics such as time value of money, interest rate theory, stochastic calculus, and probability/statistics applied to financial data. This course equips students with the tools to price and value financial instruments, such as derivatives, manage risk, and construct and optimize portfolios. It also covers critical areas like fixed income securities, options strategies, financial modeling, and regulatory compliance. Prerequisites typically include a strong foundation in calculus, linear algebra, probability/statistics, and a basic understanding of economics and finance concepts.

  • Pre-requisite: GEMATMW

APPLIED REGRESSION AND TIME SERIES ANALYSIS FOR FINANCIAL RESEARCH (FINARTS) 

3 units

This is a course in econometrics that introduces the linear regression model and discusses estimation and testing under ideal conditions. Alternative approaches to ordinary least squares, namely, maximum likelihood estimation and method of moments estimation, are also discussed. This course examines what happens when conditions are less than ideal due to departures from the assumptions necessary for ordinary least squares (OLS) to be the best linear unbiased estimator, and provides alternative regression techniques that address problems arising from violations of the basic assumptions. The course discusses logit, probit, panel data regression, and other types of regression analysis. It also introduces the students to time series analysis.

  • Pre-requisite: DSILYTC, FINCPMA, FINAMAT

INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS AGREEMENTS (COBIBFM) 

3 units

This is an introduction course to cross-border commercial transactions for undergraduate finance students. This course aims to provide an overview of the most common types of cross-border commercial transactions that will be encountered in practice by finance professionals. These include: (i) foreign investments, (ii) cross-border mergers and acquisitions, (iii) international joint ventures, (iv) international loans and syndicated lending transactions, (v) financial derivative transactions, (vi) foreign exchange transactions, (vii) import-export banking or international trade finance, (viii) international project finance, (ix) cross-border intellectual property transactions, and the like. It also involves major financial regulatory issues that have international implications, such as: (i) international taxation, and (ii) international money laundering regulations. The course is designed to be relevant and responsive to the needs of the finance industry, particularly in areas such as investment banking, capital markets, financial markets, corporate/wholesale banking, and commercial banking, where cross-border issues and foreign elements arise.

  • Pre-requisite: None

MONETARY POLICY AND CENTRAL BANKING (FINCEBM) 

3 units

This course is divided into two parts, covering monetary policy and central banking. Part 1: Introduction and Overview; Barter, payments and a money economy; Money, inflation, Interest Rates and output; Intermediation and the financial system; Financial instruments, markets, and institutions; Interest Rates and term structure; Financial services industry; Origins of banks; Why is the financial industry special; Banking and financial regulation; Risks in financial intermediation; Money creation and central banking; Multiple deposit creation; Demand and supply for money and reserves; Deposit creation by banks and the role of a central bank; Instruments of monetary policy; Operation of the monetary board. Part 2: Central Banking Central Banking Chapters; Crosses, Models, and Curves; Monetary Theories; and Policies, Ideas, and Results. By taking this course, students, among others, will: (1) learn the fundamentals of central banking on a nation’s economy; (2) understand how various factors affect financial markets and how they influence the decisions of policymakers; (3) understand how the financial systems interact with economies, and; (4) study the central banks’ role and monetary policy mechanism.

  • Pre-requisite: FINBAFI

RISK MANAGEMENT AND DERIVATIVES (FINRISD) 

3 units

This is a course that deals with the ways in which risks are quantified and managed by enterprises in general, and financial institutions. It deals with the proper identification, assessment, measurement, and prioritization of risk. Specifically, risk management requires an understanding of the three major types of risk: market, credit, and operational risk, in order to establish proper management tools to address and optimize these. The course pays special attention to how risks can be managed with the use of financial derivatives, with a specific focus on interest rate, credit, and foreign exchange through plain vanilla swaps, forwards, and options

  • Pre-requisite: FINAMAT, FINADVA

INVESTMENT AND PORTFOLIO MANAGEMENT (FININPM) 

3 units

This course presents various ideas and procedures in investment analysis and portfolio management. The course covers the following topics: introduction to investments and asset allocation, portfolio management, analysis of common stock and fixed income instruments, developments in investment theory (including traditional and current developments and issues), such as risk management, venture capital, behavioral finance, and microfinance, as well as valuation principles and practices.

  • Pre-requisite: FINCPMA

FINANCIAL ANALYTICS (FINLYTS) 

3 units

This course provides an overview of financial analytics, where students learn to solve real-world quantitative finance problems using the statistical computing language R and RStudio. The course provides an introduction to methods and tools useful in decision-making within the financial industry, covering topics such as time series analysis, volatility measurement, equity data analysis, credit risk, extreme value analytics, trading analytics, and portfolio management. 

  • Pre-requisite: FINADVA, FINARTS

SPECIAL TOPICS IN FINANCE (FINSPTO)

3 units

This course equips students with real-world knowledge and skills essential for specialized finance roles across various industries. Taught by experienced professionals, the course delves into the dynamic responsibilities of finance executives, particularly the evolving role of the Chief Financial Officer (CFO). Students will explore strategic financial planning, corporate strategy alignment, and innovative financial management techniques, gaining insights into technology-driven financial solutions and risk management in emerging markets. By engaging with cutting-edge research and expert-led discussions, participants will develop leadership and decision-making abilities critical for navigating the complex global financial landscape. This course prepares students for success as finance leaders in banking, corporate, and entrepreneurial settings, providing them with a strategic toolkit and a competitive edge in their careers.

  • Pre-requisite: FININPM

CREDIT MANAGEMENT (FINCRDM) 

3 units

This is a course that focuses on the traditional business lending operations of Philippine universal/commercial banks. This will enable students to gain an integrated view of the functional lending areas, including corporate banking and lending, trade-related transactions, loan syndication, corporate finance, and project financing. This will also provide students with a functional understanding of the specialized areas of credit management, which include credit risk management strategies (based on Basel standards), synthetic structures, and client/investor relations. All these essentially lead to a deeper understanding of the fundamental and operational aspects of a more sophisticated credit management, ultimately leading to a path of value creation for banks. 

  • Pre-requisite: FINBAFI

BUSINESS RESEARCH (FINBSRE) 

3 units

This course facilitates the preparation of a thesis proposal related to basic or applied research by guiding the development of a concept paper. It will enhance the students’ technical writing skills in writing the concept paper that can be fully developed in Finance Research 1 (i.e., THSFMD1). The course also equips the students to write the literature reviews related to the topic for approval by the panel of evaluators. The output can be used in writing and defining the thesis proposal, which will become the student’s thesis.

  • Pre-requisite: FININPM, FINARTS

ELECTIVES

The BSFIN Program offers a diverse range of electives aligned with the evolving industry trends. 

  1. Treasury Management and Operations
    • Course Code: FINTREO
    • Prerequisite: FININPIM
  2. Trust and Funds Management
    • Course Code: FINTRUF
    • Prerequisite: FININPIM
  3. Investment Banking
    • Course Code: FINVBA
    • Prerequisite: FINBAFI
  4. Financial Technology
    • Course Code: FINTECM
    • Prerequisite: FINRSID, FINBAFI
  5. Preparatory Elective Course for Level 1 Chartered Financial Analyst
    • Course Code: FINCFAP
    • Prerequisite: FINADVA
  6. Insurance Operations
    • Course Code: FININSM
    • Prerequisite: FINADVA
  7. Microfinance
    • Course Code: FINMICF
    • Prerequisite: FINBAFI
  8. Mergers, Acquisitions, and Private Equity
    • Course Code: FINMEAC
    • Prerequisite: FININPM
  9. Behavioral Finance
    • Course Code: FINBEHF
    • Prerequisite: FINCPMA
  10. Wealth Management
    • Course Code: FINWEAM
    • Prerequisite: FININPIM
  11. International Finance & Multinational Business Operations
    • Course Code: FININMU
    • Prerequisite: COBFSFM
  12. Strategic Financial Management
    • Course Code: FINSTRM

Prerequisite: COBSTRM