International Trade Finance and Investment,

Suggested Outline for the ITFI Assessment (revised 10/10/2019)

(word count of 3,000 words +/-10%)

1. Cover Page: Student name, UWL I.D. number, module name – International Trade Finance and Investment, name of Assessment – Individual Report

1. Table of Content Page: Table of Contents containing the various sections of the report with relevant page numbers

1. Executive Summary: A recap, using own words the assessment brief per the MSG and an outline of the subtopics covered in the report.
2. Background of financial markets:

• Introductory paragraph to Financial Markets

• Identification and explanation of key functions for the 5 Financial Markets – Capital Market, Derivative Market, Commodity Market, Money Market, and Foreign Exchange Market

• Identification and definition of financial marketplaces (where transactions take place e.g. stock exchanges

• Identification and definitions of main financial Instruments broken down into equities, debts, and other (derivatives)

• Identification of key players in the market broken down into the following categories:

Investors/borrowers/lenders such as private individuals, businesses, and financial institutions such as banks

Intermediary/process oriented entities such as brokers and other middle men organisations (related to the secondary market)

Regulatory bodies such as the FCA

• Explanation of financial processes (how the financial marketplaces, financial instruments, and key players in the markets interact together for each of the five financial markets – use words and possible diagrams to illustrate these processes or interactions)

1. Capital allocation within a domestic economy:

• Define the concept of “capital allocation”
• Explain in terms of the U.K. economy
• Incorporate main elements associated with capital allocation: source of capital, key domestic players involved, purpose/objectives for the capital (including any relevant policies, regulations, players’ objectives/rules), process, and destination of the capital

Focus on the purpose/focus of what is Capital allocation (the raising of large amounts of money for investment purposes whilst considering potential profit and risk criteria) using extracts of information provided from part 3 using examples.

Examples: An explanation of how the Bank of England operates in terms of how they attempt to achieve particular objectives through their Monetary and Fiscal policies

And,

And large corporations as they seek to raise money through the issuance of shares of stock and/or the issuance of corporate bonds

1. Capital Allocation within international market:

Continue the discussion on Capital Allocation as started in part 5 except it should be applied to the international market rather than the domestic market.

Such entities as foreign stock markets, the WTO, IMF, the World Bank and ECB could be covered.

Again examples that could be highlighted are FDI activities by large Transnational companies like Toyota in the UK and Coca Cola in India. Also, a mention of Global Value Chain dynamics involving different countries in manufacturing and logistics would be highly relevant.

1. Evaluation of one emerging economy (normally a BRICS country – Brazil, Russia, India, China, or South Africa):

At least 5 least areas should be covered using academic data sources e.g. .GOV statistical information (or other professional data sources) on the relevant country, identify key aspects of their status of their international trading abilities e.g. main exports, main imports, trade policies, level of technology, logistics, level of education, GDP per capita, regional trading agreements, physical or environmental barriers, etc.

1. Critical evaluation of challenges that country faces due to industrialisation and trade policies: (at least 5 areas should be covered)

A similar discussion should be provided as in part 6, with a focus on problems associated with industrialisation such as pollution, inability to develop suitable technologies for manufacturing to effectively compete against other countries, increased disparities in wealth distribution within an emerging country, preferential or restrictive policies such as tariffs, quotas, trade subsidies, red tape, trading alliances between countries, and sanctions (to name a few)

1. Summary and Recommendations: An overview of the key findings of the report and associated recommendations that may be helpful to a potential investor should be presented with supporting evidences.

Note: It is essential that at least 3 trade/macro-economic theories such the Keynesian and the Ricardian Comparative Advantage examples be explained and applied using real world examples from international trade