Treasury and Financial Management

Corporate finance covers a whole spectrum of topics including capital budgeting, capital structure and dividend policy. In all of these areas, financial managers are required to make many different and important decisions. FIN B862 Treasury and Financial Management aims to help you solve some of the typical finance-based problems that often face organizations.

FIN B862 Treasury and Financial Management is designed to enhance your understanding of the financial aspects of corporate management, with particular emphasis on how financial tools can be of use to an organization. The course will also address the broader aspects of how an organization can devise realistic plans for growth using project appraisal techniques and the cost and sources of capital.

This Course Guide gives you a general overview of the course. There are sections on:

• course aims and learning objectives;
• course organization and structure, and a list of the topics to be covered;
• assessment methods, assignments and examinations; and
• medium of delivery, course materials, tutorials and tutor

The course aims to prepare learners to apply essential tools and key concepts to evaluate the financial policies of a corporation. It equips learners with the skills necessary to make rational financial decisions.

Upon the completion of FIN B862 Treasury and Financial Management, students should be able to:

• Critically review value maximization as a framework for financial decision making, and evaluate the market risk and the fair return of an (LO1)
• Analyse the impact of accepting a new investment under conditions of certainty and uncertainty, changing a firm's capital structure and the arguments for and against high levels of financial (LO2)
• Critically evaluate the different patterns of financing for both short- term and long-term corporate financing decisions, and discuss the considerations and issues that accompany the implementation of a particular dividend (LO3)
• Explain and discuss the considerations and issues arising from the use of derivatives for hedging risks, mergers and acquisitions, as well as international financing (LO4)

FIN B862 Treasury and Financial Management is designed to give you an operational and practical knowledge of finance. It combines theory and applications and includes materials that you are most likely to need when dealing with real-world financial decisions. Wherever possible and appropriate, examples and cases pertaining to the Hong Kong business environment will be used. This course is an advisory prerequisite for the course FIN B872 Special Topics in Corporate Finance and Risk Management.

There are no specific prerequisites for this course. However, if you have taken courses in accounting, statistics and economics, you will find it easier to grasp the more difficult materials.

Course overview

The following chart gives a general overview of the course structure.

Printed materials

This course is made up of six study units, which have been designed to take advantage of a well-written prescribed textbook. The reference for your textbook is given below.

The course's six study units complement your textbook. Each study unit:

• extracts the important issues from the textbook;
• organizes the concepts from your textbook in a systematic and organized format;
• provides clarification or gives additional explanation to supplement the textbook;
• provides illustrations and activities to help you apply financialtheory to real-life accounting situations; and
• provides you with case studies and supplementary

Readings

You may be instructed in the study units to read articles or other supplementary materials. These will be available online or provided as hard copies at the backs of the study units. For online readings, instead of typing in the URL, you can click the link in the online study unit provided in the OLE.

E-Library E-Reserve readings

You may be instructed to read articles in the E-Library E-Reserve. To read these items, go to the University's E-Library and click E-Reserve. Log in, click Accept/Agree on the Copyright Restrictions page, fill in the Course Code box, and click Search.

Set textbook

You are required to purchase the following set textbook:

Ross, S A, Westerfield, R W, Jaffe, J, Jordan, B D (2019) Corporate Finance, 12th edn, McGraw-Hill.

Please make sure that you buy this textbook. Although your set textbook has been written for the financial community in the United States, the theories it discusses can be applied to Hong Kong's financial environment. As you read the textbook, try to analyse some of the assumptions and limitations that underlie its general theories.

Ask yourself the questions: 'How do these theories relate to my working situation?' and 'How do these theories relate to the financial environment of Hong Kong?'

Additional reading texts

In addition to your compulsory textbook, the following books are recommended as additional reading texts:

Glen, A (2013) Corporate Financial Management, 5th edn, Pearson.

Brealey, R A, Myers, C M and Allen, F (2014) Principles of Corporate Finance, 11th (Global) edn, McGraw-Hill.

Ross, S A, Westerfield, R W, Jordan, B D, Lim, J and Tan, R (2012) Fundamentals of Corporate Finance, Asia Global edn, McGraw-Hill.

Non-print media

Non-print media will not be required for this course.

Equipment required by students

You are recommended to invest in a financial calculator such as Texas Instruments BAII PLUS Professional and Casio FC100. This will aid in time value calculations. For details of the approved models of calculators in examinations, please refer to the 'Approved List of Calculators for August 2015 exams' from the Registry. Models which do not appear on the list or do not bear the 'HKEA/HKEAA Approved' label are not allowed in exams. May I also remind you that Casio FC200, Casio FC100V and Casio FC200V are not allowed in exams.

Access to a personal computer loaded with Microsoft Excel for Windows is highly recommended.

You will be assessed on your ability to grasp the key concepts of corporate finance. In particular, you will be tested on the application of concepts and theories to practical problems and case studies. Your assessment for FIN B862 Treasury and Financial Management includes:

• self-assessment
• formal assessment (that is, assignments and an examination).

Self-assessment

In each study unit, there are self-test questions. They range from prompts designed to help you check that you understand a new concept, to substantial tasks designed to consolidate your learning of a major section of the unit. You are strongly advised to work through these questions on your own first, and then check your answers against the answers provided.

Assignments

Assignments are contained in the Assignment File. You are required to do your assignments on your own and then mail them to your tutor for marking. There are altogether two compulsory assignment exercises, and they are all equally weighted. This continuous element accounts for 40% of the total course marks.

Note that each assignment will include problem sets and/or cases.

How to submit assignments

You must use Microsoft Word and Microsoft Access to prepare the assignments, and submit the assignments via the Online Learning Environment (OLE). All assignments must be uploaded to the OLE by the due date.

Failure to upload an assignment in the required format to the OLE may result in the score of the assignment being adjusted to zero.

Assignment submission extension policy

The assignment policy of the University as stated in the Student Handbook should be observed. You are required to submit assignments for this course in accordance with the dates communicated by your Course Coordinator. You may apply for a submission extension on the grounds of illness, accident, disability, bereavement or other compassionate circumstances.

Applications for extensions must be submitted online via the OLE. Please note the following:

• Supporting documents must be submitted to justify applications for extensions of over seven days.
• Applications for extensions should normally be lodged before or on the due date.
• Applications are considered by:
  
  • your tutor for extensions of up to seven days;
  • the Course Coordinator for extensions of 8 to 21 days; and
  • the Dean for extensions of over 21 days.

After an assignment is submitted via the OLE, it is your responsibility to check that the assignment has been successfully submitted. Extension applications due to any problem with uploading will not be accepted.

The University cannot accept any responsibility for assignments that are not received by your tutor due to any problem with submission via the OLE. As a precaution, you are advised to keep a copy of each assignment you submit.

According to the University's policy, no extension of the due date will be allowed for the final assignment. This policy will be strictly enforced. Any late submission of the final assignment will result in the score of the assignment being adjusted to zero.

Examination

There will be also be a three-hour final examination, which will account for 60% of the total course assessment. The examination paper will cover materials from all units. To give you an idea of the types of questions the examination will contain, before the final examination HKMU will send you a copy of a sample final examination paper.

Remember that your final result in this course depends on your performance in both the continuous assessment (assignments) and the examination. In order to pass the course, you must pass both the continuous assessment and the examination. For more information on the university's policies on assignments and examinations, please refer to your Student Handbook.

Tutors

At the start of the course, you will be informed of your course tutor. Much of your communication with the university will be with your tutor. Your tutor's role will include grading your assignments on a timely basis, guiding your study throughout the course and assisting you with any difficulties that you may encounter in your studies. You are strongly advised to keep a copy of all the assignments that you send to your tutor so that you can communicate more clearly on any problems or questions you have regarding your assignments.

Your tutor will go over topics during the tutorial sessions for this course. If there are any points that you would like your tutor to cover in the tutorial, please let him/her know in advance.

Supplementary lectures and tutorials

There will be three two-hour supplementary lectures and five two-hour tutorials. The purpose of supplementary lectures is to teach key/difficult topics which appear in the course units. The tutorials are intended to reinforce your understanding of the topics presented in the supplementary lectures and course material through interactive activities, such as case analysis, problem solving and/or discussions. All tutorial groups will follow a similar programme of tutorial activities. They may include group analysis of case studies, as well as preparation for and feedback on assignments.

Tutors are required to start tutorial sessions on time. If a tutor fails to turn up 30 minutes after the scheduled starting time, students may assume that the session is cancelled and they should report the case to the Course Coordinator so that a make-up session could be arranged.

The Day School and surgery

This course makes use of a Day School to be arranged on a weekend. During the Day School, teaching will consist of a mix of tutorials, case study and group work. Case study will cover a range of examples of financial decisions and dilemmas, taken from public and private sector organizations. There should be plenty of opportunities for you to gain extra tutorial help on more difficult topics, and to discuss topics with your fellow students. The surgery is designed to reinforce your understanding of the materials presented in the supplementary lectures and respond to any questions you may have on the content of the supplementary lectures or course materials.

Online Learning Environment

This course is supported by the Online Learning Environment (OLE). You can find course material and the latest course information from the OLE. Through the OLE, you can also communicate with your tutor, the Course Coordinator as well as fellow students. For details about the OLE and how to access it, please refer to the Online Learning Environment User Guide.

FIN B862 Treasury and Financial Management provides you with fundamental concepts in the fields of finance and accounting. It covers a range of topics and the course has been designed to give you an operational and practical knowledge of finance. It combines theory with corporate applications and includes materials to help you deal with real- world financial decisions. Specifically, the course helps you use project appraisal techniques and financial management tools in corporate decision making.

A note about the developer of this course

Dr Ruth Tan is presently a Senior Lecturer at the Department of Finance and Accounting, Faculty of Business Administration, National University of Singapore. She teaches Business Finance, Financial Markets and Financial Management at the undergraduate and graduate level. Dr Tan is also currently Director of the Accounting and Finance Executive Programme, which conducts training programmes for middle managers, senior managers and chief executive officers. She has conducted in-house training programmes for multinational organizations and has acted as consultant for several corporations.

If you wish to defer your studies of this course until a later date, you should apply for deferment of studies. For the regulations governing deferment of studies, please refer to your Student Handbook. If you have applied for deferment of studies you should continue with your studies of this course and submit the required assignments until formal approval is given by the university.

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