Dr. Robert M. Eldridge, Seabury Hall 304
Tel: 392-5628 (O); 876-5046 (H); 392-5254(F)
email: ELDRIDGER1@SOUTHERNCT.EDU

1. Fundamentals of Multinational Financial Management, 5th edition, Alan C. Shapiro, John Wiley & Sons, 2005
2. Subscription to the The Financial Times of London.

There are two objectives of this course:

1. Establish a foundation in the context of for-profit financial operations in the international area as outlined in the course description. At the end of the course, the student should have an appreciation of the basic issues facing the financial manager operating in the international environment;
   
2. Provide the student an opportunity to practice good writing skills as learned in basic composition courses.

1. This course will be offered as both a "L and non-"L" course, although the assignments will be identical. The one difference will be that non-"L" registrants will not be required to rewrite their papers to meet writing standards.

2. "Two minute drills". Generally, at the end of each class, there will be a one-question quiz lasting two minutes. I will count only the top ten grades. This will constitute 5% of the final grade.

3. At the end of the course, the student will be requested to complete a "Course Survey" form, separate and distinct from any University Evaluation form. This survey helps me in preparing the course for the next time I offer it. For each form returned, 1/n points will be added to the final grade, where "n" represents the number of students enrolled in the course based on the registrar's final class list.

4. The student is permitted and encouraged to tape record lectures for personal study use only.

5. If any student has a particular disability-related need in order to participate in this course, such as special seating, note-taking assistance, use of tape recorders or modified exam conditions, you will need to visit the Disability Resource Office, EN C105A, to arrange for approved accommodations. If you have other information you wish to share with me, such as emergency medical information, or arrangements in case the building has to be evacuated, please tell me as soon as possible.

6. Some thoughts on writing: I do not expect Nobel-prize quality literature (or even Pulitzer prize quality for that matter). I do expect the following:

A. Each sentence must have a subject and verb.

B. Subject and verb must agree in number.

C. All words should be properly spelled. There is no excuse for misspelling. I will accept either British or American spelling.

D. Indefinite pronouns must agree in number with the proper nouns to which they apply.

E. Company names are often Compound Singular Nouns (example: Lever Bros)and therefore take singular pronouns (it).

F. Thou shalt not:

1. Leave a dangling participle.
2. Leave a dangling preposition.
3. Split an infinitive

G. Unless requested to do so, do not write from the perspective of the first person singular.

H. Basic punctuation is expected, especially the use of apostrophes for the possessive.

I. Use of the verb "to go" as a surrogate for the verb "to say" will cause me to instantaneously dematerialize and most likely haunt your speech/writing patterns for the rest of your life. In a similar fashion, the word "like" is not salt or sugar, to be casually sprinkled into your speech/ writing habits. It, too, will cause me untold grief and torment and both errors will most likely guide my marking pen when making out grades.

J. If you use a direct quotation, be sure to put it in quotes and properly reference it. If not so done, you will have committed plagiarism - the worst academic sin - and suffer accordingly. See also http://cwp.missouri.edu --> resources --> plagiarism

K. To aid you in better writing, I have placed on reserve in the library a copy of "They Say/I Say" by Gerald Graff. Of particular value here is the use of templates to help you improve your writing.

7. Writing assignments. The five papers assigned constitute the writing assignments for the course. Two grades will be assigned for the papers: one for finance and one for writing. For those students taking this as a "L" course, I will get the first submission back to you within two classes after submission. Any grade for writing below B will necessitate a rewrite. Failure to rewrite will result in a failing grade for the writing portion of the assignment. Any rewrites required must be resubmitted by the second following class. Papers will be rewritten only once. After the first rewrite, the grade for the writing and finance stands. For those taking this as a non-"L" course, I will give you a chance to redo the finance portion once; however, this will not be required. The final grade for each assignment will be based on 50% finance and 50% writing for "L" course students and 75% finance and 25% writing for non-"L" students. In writing your assignments, bear this in mind: If the reader does not understand what you have written, you might as well not have written it. Of particular concern are ambiguities that could be interpreted in more than one way. Make sure that your writing is clear and specific.

8. I have developed a phobia: cell phones/pagers that go off in class. To maintain good diplomatic relations with me, please turn off all communications devices in the classroom. NO EXCEPTIONS UNLESS PREVIOUSLY APPROVED BY ME.

A. What you may expect from me:

1. A strong grounding in basic international finance.

2. A willingness to work with you on specific problems
you have with the course or its scheduling.

3. A sense of excitement about the field of international finance.

B. What I expect to get from you:

1. Come to class prepared by having read the assignment and at least tried any homework problems.

2. If you know you will miss a class, a call to me would be appreciated.

3. If something does not make sense you will ask me either in class, in office hours or call me at home.

4. A sense of what is going on in the world of international business and finance through a daily reading of the Financial Times.

1700-1745: BU 419

1800-1930: regular classroom

Country Risk Analysis

Webex: 5:1,2; 6:1,2 Prob: 5:1,4

Webex:7:1,2,3; Prob:7:1,2,3; Webex: 2:1,2,3,4; Prob: 2:1,2

Apr 16

Catch-up/Review

Select a foreign currency (except the Euro)
1. Discuss the nature of the exchange rate regime of the currency.
2. Discuss it's Balance of Payments situation over the last five years.
3. Discuss what you believe are the major factors driving it's exchange rate against the US dollar. Consider political and economic factors.

Note: A good reference here is International Financial Statistics of the IMF

Track any currency except the Euro for the five year period ending 30 June 2005.

1. Using Datastream:

A. Plot the exchange rate of the currency against the US dollar.

B. Plot the exchange rate of the currency against British sterling

C. Plot the dollar exchange rate against the dollar interest rate differential.

D. Plot the sterling exchange rate against the sterling intererst rate differential.

E. Plot the three interest rates on one chart.

F. Plot the interest rate differentials on two separate charts.

G. Calculate the correlation between the exchange rate and the related interest rate differential

2. For the UK use overnight (one day) Sterling LIBOR. For the US use FED FUNDS. Both are available on Datastream. For the country you have chosen, select the interest rate that most corresponds to the US/UK overnight rate. It may be that there is no equivalent rate. In that case talk to me

3. Discuss whether or not interest rate changes seem to influence the exchange rate over the five year period.

This paper will be based on material found on the web.
Each student will be assigned one of the following issues:

a) Using the following web sites (and others you may find) write an essay on the following question: Is capital generated in the industrialized countries finding its way to underdeveloped and "emerging" markets".

• World Bank (www.worldbank.org)
• OECD (www.oecd.org)
• European Bank for Reconstruction (www.ebrd.com)

b) The Overseas Private Investment Corp provides long-term political risk insurance and limited-recourse project financing aid to US-based firms investing abroad. Using the following web site (and any others you find), address the following issues:

i) Exactly what types of risk will OPIC insure
against?

ii) What financial limits are there on this
insurance protection?

iii) How should a project be structured to aid its approval by OPIC for coverage?

iv) How is OPIC funded?

v) Who "owns" OPIC? (www.opic.gov)

c) Using the web sites listed below, write an essay on project financing services available from the listed organizations:

i) Milbank: Project Finance (www.milbank.com/03_practice12.html)
ii) General Electric Capital Services (www.ge.com)
iii) World Bank (www.worldbank.org)

d) China is potentially the world's largest consumer, as well a potential place of foreign direct investment. Write an essay that develops a data base on sources of information on such issues as: import/export restrictions; labor relations; supplier financing; tax rules; depreciation schedules; currency properties and restrictions and sources of short- and long-term debt.

Use the following web sites as a starter:

• Ministry of Foreign Trade and Economic Cooperation, PRC
  (www.chinamarket.com.cn)
• China Investment Trust & Investment Corporation (www.citic.com/english/index.asp)
• ChinaNet Investment Pages (www.business-china.com/invest)

Using the below listed web sites, select a country and do an analysis of it's sovereign risk characteristics (such as local currency risk, default risk, transfer risk, currency risk). Your analysis should use both the Standard & Poor's rating service as well as Moody's.

• Standard & Poor's (www.standardpoor.com/ratings)
• Moody's (www.moodys.com)
• Michigan State University (www.globaledge.msu.edu/ibrd/ibrd.asp)
  

Pick one of the following issues and discuss:
a. You are the Minister of Finance of China. The Party Secretary is about to criticize you in the "People's Daily" newspaper for maintaining so much of the country's official reserves in US dollars. Such a criticism is the kiss of death to your career. Prepare your response to the Party Secretary.

b. India is a tempting location for foreign direct investment. However, recent events in India (the Indian government reaction to the Bhopal disaster as well as the more recent controversy over soft drink water) may make the temptation resistable. You are the CFO of Any Co. Develop a position paper for the Board of Directors on whether or not Any Co should invest in India and how to handle the FDI risks. Your discussion should include specifics about potential benefits as wellas how you would measure risks and manage them. Assume any product you choose to illustrate your analysis.

c. Latin America has taken a marked swing to the political left in recent months, particularly in Venezeula, Bolivia and Peru. As the CFO of Any Co., prepare a report for the Board of Directors on how you will hedge the company's energy investments in these countries. Include in your report specific actions of the countries noted that threaten Any Co's position in the country. Your report should be couched in terms of the amount and type of economic exposure to which Any Co is subject and how you would measure such exposure.