Minimum curriculum requirements for Licencjat Programmes
in FINANCE AND BANKING

1. GENERAL REQUIREMENTS

Licencjat programmes in Finance and Banking last at least 6 semesters. These are offered as a separate type of higher professional education programmes or first-stage (undergraduate) higher education programmes, both ending with the defence of a diploma thesis. The minimum curriculum requirements cover a total of 1170 hours. The total course load for licencjat programmes in this field of study is ca. 2200 hours. Courses are not prescribed in terms of their form or sequence.

2. PROFILE OF THE GRADUATE

Graduates are equipped with theoretical knowledge and practical skills required for keeping records of business events and for managing finances of enterprises, financial institutions and local governments at the white-collar non-management (operational) level.

3. COURSE GROUPS AND MINIMUM COURSE LOAD

GENERAL COURSES	200 hours
BASIC COURSES	585 hours
MAJOR COURSES	375 hours
Total:	1170 hours

PROFESSIONAL SPECIALISATION AND SPECIALIST OPTION COURSES AS DETERMINED BY THE HIGHER EDUCATION INSTITUTION: 30% of the total course load

NB.: Professional specialisation courses are those which prepare the future graduate to practise a profession (in particular, to obtain professional qualifications); specialist option courses are those which offer more profound field-specific knowledge in particular areas.

4. PRACTICAL PLACEMENT

The minimum duration of a practical placement is 6 weeks if not stated otherwise in the legislation.

5. COURSES BY GROUP AND MINIMUM COURSE LOAD

GENERAL COURSES	200 hours
Foreign Languages	90
Fundamentals of Sociology	30
Economic History or Economic Geography (to be chosen by the student)	30
Physical Education	60
BASIC COURSES	585 hours
Microeconomics	90
Macroeconomics	90
Mathematics	90
Statistics (descriptive)	60
Computer Science	60
Accounting	60
Fundamentals of Management	60
Law	60
Fundamentals of Econometrics	15
MAJOR COURSES	375 hours
Fundamentals of Finance	30
Public Finance	30
Corporate Finance Management	60
Local Government Finance	30
International Finance	45
Banking	60
Capital and Money Market	30
Insurance	30
Applications of Mathematics to Finance and Banking	30
Risk Management	30

6. CURRICULUM CONTENTS

2. BASIC COURSES

1. MICROECONOMICS

Market. Household. Theory of consumer behaviour. Theory of production. Perfect competition and monopoly. Equilibrium of the enterprise. Oligopoly. Alternative theories of the firm. Markets of production factors. Competitive equilibrium and elements of the theory of welfare.

2. MACROECONOMICS

National economy. Global demand and supply. Macroeconomic equilibrium. National output, national income. State budget, deficit and public debt. Money and the banking system. Money market. Keynesian macroeconomics and classical macroeconomics. Business cycle. Inflation, unemployment. Open economy. External equilibrium. Budgetary, monetary, and exchange rate policies. Stabilisation policy and the IS-LM model. Economic growth.

3. MATHEMATICS

Functions of one, two or several variables and their applications to economics (marginal calculus, extremes). Elements of integral calculus. Introduction to differential and difference equations, and their applications to economics. Vector and matrix calculus. Systems of linear equations and inequalities – examples from economics. Elements of mathematical economics.

4. STATISTICS

Stages of statistical surveys. Tabular and graphic presentation of statistical data. Basic parameters of statistical description for one characteristic. Structure of a correlation table. Basic parameters of statistical description for two characteristics. Analysing interdependency of two characteristics. Correlation coefficients. Statistical indexes. Analysing a growth tendency.

5. COMPUTER SCIENCE

Basic concepts. Computer equipment. Software (basic software, tools, and applications). Operating systems. Word processing programmes. Spreadsheet. Using statistical packages. Developing and using data bases.

6. ACCOUNTING

Legal regulations and international standards in accounting. Accounting principles and techniques. Business operations and their impact on the balance-sheet. Balancing assets, liabilities and equity. Analysis of economic efficiency and financial standing of the enterprise.

7. FUNDAMENTALS OF MANAGEMENT

Organisation - aims and measures of effectiveness. Strategies of organisational management. Strategic planning. Organisational structures. Organisational procedures. Human resources management. Human resources policy. Management styles. Organisational culture. Change management.

8. LAW

Business entities and institutions. Legal structure of the economy. Legal conditions for pursuing economic activity. Role and types of business agreements. Commercial law company. Commercial activities (sale, agency, consignment, storage, shipping). Law on bills of exchange and cheques. Protection of industrial property.

3. MAJOR COURSES

1. FUNDAMENTALS OF FINANCE

Essence of finance. Functions of finance. Concept of the financial system. Main elements of the financial system. Monetary and fiscal policy.

2. PUBLIC FINANCE

Public finance and their functions. Financial system of the State. Distribution of public funds. Public debt. State budget. Local government budgets. Structure of budget revenues. Structure of budget expenditure. Budget planning. State Treasury.

3. CORPORATE FINANCE MANAGEMENT

Capital and funds of business entities. Financial analysis and cost analysis. Mechanisms and instruments for creation and division of the financial market. Principles and forms of business taxation. Depreciation systems. Planning and financing utilisation and investment activities. Linking companies with monetary and capital markets. Cash settlement systems. Foreign trade financing. Financial aspects of privatisation.

4. LOCAL GOVERNMENT FINANCE

Local government. Financial powers of local government agencies. Local government revenues from taxes and payments. Other revenues. Local government expenditure. Financial links between local and central government. Control of local finance management.

5. INTERNATIONAL FINANCE

Foreign exchange markets and transactions. Exchange rate systems in the world. Protection against exchange rate risk. Balance of payments. Methods of international payments. International institutions and international financial organisations. Largest international financial centres. Foreign credits. World terminal markets. Export promotion systems.

6. BANKING

Functions of the bank, and its position in the State financial system. Banking systems in selected countries of the world. Structure of the Polish banking system. Money supply. Policy and instruments of the central bank. Organisational of the commercial bank. Banks’ passive operations: receiving deposits. Banks’ active operations: granting credits. Credit standing. Bank services. Banking policy. Bank marketing.

7. CAPITAL AND MONEY MARKET

Capital market institutions. Capital market instruments and their attributes. Financial risk on the capital market. Capital investments and return on capital investments. Fiscal and non-fiscal incentives for the development of capital and money markets. Demand for and supply of loan capital. Securities. Discount rate. Principles of public dealings in securities. Transactions on the money market.

8. INSURANCE

Social insurance in Poland. Business insurance. Structure of property insurance. Organisation and results of insurance activities. Contractual personal insurance in Poland.

9. APPLICATIONS OF MATHEMATICS TO FINANCE AND BANKING

Value of money in time. Pension calculations. Credit and loan settlement. Duration of financial instruments. Valuation of financial instruments. Portfolio analysis. Constructing a portfolio with pre-defined properties (return or risk). Constructing portfolios on the basis of quotations on the Polish capital market. Elements of actuarial calculations. Calculation of insurance premiums.

10. RISK MANAGEMENT

Financial risk and its types. Measuring the market risk. Measuring the credit risk. Risk in the enterprise. Risk in the bank. Risk in the insurance undertaking. Risk in the investment fund. Managing the market risk by shaping the structure of assets and liabilities. Credit risk management. Derivatives in risk management.

7. RECOMMENDATIONS

The professional orientation of licencjat programmes should be reflected, among other things, in:

1. the practical placement, and

2. the group of professional specialisation and specialist option courses determined by the higher education institution.

The course of a practical placement and the approach to professional specialisation and specialist option courses should depend on the specificity of the higher education institution and the profile of the graduate as determined by the institution for a given licencjat programme.