AF4S52 - Financial Markets and Digital Assets 01 Sep 2024 - 31 Aug 2027 | Version 0

Associated Module Information

Module Code: AF4S52
Module Title: Financial Markets and Digital Assets
Faculty: Faculty of Business and Creative Industries
Faculty Group: Accounting and Finance
Faculty Sub Group: Accounting and Finance
Module Leader: Donald Amuah
Module Team: Jia Cao, Chibuzo Amadi, Jared Davies
First Intended Intake: SEP 2024 Final Year of Intake: 2029
Date Closed:
Credit Value: 20 Credit Level: 7
Language: English
Percentage of Module Taught in Welsh: 0
Equivalent Module:
HECOS codes: 100107 - finance 100828 - investment
HECOS Code Weighting: 50 50

Document Version Information

Version 0
Valid From 01 Sep 2024
Valid To 31 Aug 2027

Module Aims

The module aims to provide a critical understanding of global financial markets as well as the traditional securities and digital assets traded on them. 

Content Summary

  • Market organisation and structure: Overview of the major types of financial securities, currencies, contracts, commodities, and real assets  

  • Company analysis for preparing Company Research Reports (CRR) to inform investment decisions 

  • Fixed-Income Instrument Features 

  • Fixed-Income Markets for Corporate Issuers and Credit Analysis for Corporate Issuers 

  • Fixed-Income Markets for Government Issuers and Credit Analysis for Government Issuers 

  • Introduction to traded digital assets, their markets and the technology behind them. 

  • Cryptocurrencies (e.g. Bitcoin, Ether) as a financial investment asset 

  • Introduction to Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDC) and the future of money 

  • The importance of FDI in emerging financial markets 

  • Capital Flows and the FX Market 

Learning and Teaching Methods

Activity Type Hours
Lecture 20
Practical Classes and Workshops 20
Independent Study 80
Directed Study (Including online independent learning) 40
Formative Assessment - Independent 5
Groupwork 15
Problem/Challenge based learning 20
Total Hours Selected 200

Learning Outcomes

# Learning Outcome
LO1 To critically apply knowledge of financial instruments and markets in order to prepare financial asset research reports for investment decision making.
LO2 To demonstrate knowledge and understanding of digital financial assets, and to critically analyse their impact on traditional financial systems.

Module Requisites

N/A

Assessment Criteria

Assessment Category Assessment Type Description Duration Word Count Weight (%) Best of? Pass Mark
Synchronous Onsite Assessment Classroom Test - Time Constrained (Onsite) 1 A test that will examine the knowledge and understanding of key concepts of financial markets and assets 30 N/A 20 No 40
Synchronous Onsite Oral Assessment Presentation (Synchronous Onsite) 1 Students will conduct a detailed analysis of a financial asset involving the use of data/primary sources to produce a written research report with the aim of informing investment decision making. The report will then be summarised in a presentation where student knowledge of technical content within the report will be assessed along with presentation skills and ability to answer questions. 10 3000 80 No 40

Assessment Matrix

Assessment Type Learning Outcomes
LO1 LO2
Classroom Test - Time Constrained (Onsite) 1
Presentation (Synchronous Onsite) 1

Reading List

Journal of Finance 

Journal of Financial Markets 

Journal of Derivatives and Hedge Funds 

CFA Program Curriculum (2024) Level 1, Volume 3: Financial Statement Analysis, Equity Investments, CFA Institute 

CFA Program Curriculum (2024) Level 1, Volume 4: Fixed Income, CFA Institute 

Tuckman, B. & Serrat, A. (2022) Fixed income securities: tools for today’s markets. Fourth edition. Hoboken, New Jersey: Wiley. 

Rainer Böhme, Nicolas Christin, Benjamin Edelman, and Tyler Moore (2015) Bitcoin: Economics, Technology, and Governance, Journal of Economic Perspectives Volume 29, Number 2 

David Yermack (2015) Is Bitcoin a Real Currency? An Economic Appraisal, Handbook of Digital Currency, Bitcoin, Innovation, Financial Instruments, and Big Data, 2015, Pages 31-43 

The Economics of Fintech and Digital Currencies Edited by Antonio Fatás A Vox EU.org Book (2019) 

The future of money and payments SUERF Policy Note Issue No 66, April 2019