FIE456 FinTech

• Topics

  -The course is formally structured into three parts:

  1. Introduction to Financial Intermediation

  2. The economics of information, platform economics, networks and searching.

  3. Selected Fintech Business Models: This can be block-chains, cryptocurrencies and Initial Coin Offerings; Electronics Payment Systems; (Robo) Advice; as well as Crowd Finance (Product, Equity and Lending) among others.

• Learning outcome

  Give students a basic understanding of the FinTech phenomenon. FinTech is a shortcut for the use of widespread application of digital technologies in Finance, ranging from web-based applications to digital processes as well as machine learning and big data analysis in financial intermediation and financial markets. After taking this course students will be able to understand which economic frictions FinTech addresses and potentially solves and why existing technologies have not been able to do this adequately. Student will learn that FinTech includes bot new, innovative start-ups, existing Financial Intermediaries, but also existing technology oriented conglomerates from other industries.

  Knowledge - The candidate...

  • has advanced knowledge of financial frictions and how they impact the financial industry.
  • has knowledge of how FinTech can alleviate some of the frictions traditional Finance business models cannot.
  • can apply this knowledge to new areas within the above-mentioned topics.

  Skills - The candidate...

  • can analyze FinTech business models
  • can separate between the actual technology used and the underlying economic problem being solved by the technology.
  • can understand the latest developments and research in this area.

   Competence - The candidate...

  • can apply his/her knowledge and skills in new areas in order to carry out advanced assignments and projects;
  • can identify relevant ethical dilemmas in FinTech and carry out his/her research with scholarly integrity.

• Teaching

  The course will be taught as a combination of traditional lectures in the first part and as a seminar in the second part. 

  A seminar means that students will be given topics to prepare and then will hold a thirty-minute presentation on the topic assigned at the beginning of a class. The exact dates will be assigned by the lecturers early in the course.  Once the dates have been assigned, failure to hold the presentation on the assigned date or failure to hand in the assignment after the deadline for the assignments will mean that we will report an F to the student administration.  

  While the course is not access restricted there is mandatory attendance.  If there is high demand for the course, the lecturers reserve the right to duplicate the course and the right to assign students to other time slots, possibly on other days.

  Depending on the number of students enrolled in the course the group size for the assignments can vary from one to three students. If there is high demand multiple groups may be assigned to one topic and presentation date.

• Recommended prerequisites

  An understanding of basic finance (such as BED3) and microeconomics (such as SAM2) from the bachelor's program is expected from the students. We also recommend students to take FIE 400 and FIE 402 before the course as well as an industrial organization course or advanced microeconomics course such as BUS 428, BUS 441, ECC401, or ECO427

• Required prerequisites

  None.

• Credit reduction due to overlap

  None.

• Requirements for course approval

  Hand-ins: Students are required to hand-in a short hand written essay after week three for course approval. Graded approved/not approved. The hand-in has to be done individually.

• Assessment

  The final grade consists of a written 15-page assignment on a Fintech topic (50%), followed by a presentation of the results in front of the class (20%) and oral participation during the course (30%). All three parts have to be passed separately and in the same semester.

  Note: Once the dates and topics for the assignment have been set, failure to hold the presentation on the assigned date or failure to hand in the assignment before the deadline for the assignments will be regarded as "Not attended" (see §12 in Forskrift om eksamen ved NHH (fulltidsstudiene)), and in that case the result for the entire course will be "Not attended"

  We will assign a presentation for each student registered in the course after week two, so if you do not plan to take the course, you need to deregister from the course as soon as possible.

  Group size for the assignment and presentation will be determined during the course, but not more than three students will be allowed to work together.

  Please also note that the course is not access restricted but if the number of registered students surpasses the threshold for oral participation by February 1 the oral participation part of the assessment will be removed.

  This will be announced 2 February 2018 in the course description at www.nhh.no

  If the oral participation (15%) is removed the final grade will be based on the assignment (70%) and the presentation (30%).

• Grading Scale

  Grades A-F. The assignment can only be written in English. All parts have to be taken in the same semester. The oral participation part cannot be retaken.

• Computer tools

  None.

• Literature

  There exists no textbook that fits the whole course, so we will use a combination of articles, individual chapters from textbooks and other material.