Course 2025-2026 a.y.

• Financial instruments and the double role of financial markets 

• The role of financial intermediaries and their regulation 

• Financial contracts. Their valuation and economic incentives

• Finance, technology and the rule of law.

• Understand the functional role of public markets that serve as an exchange place and an information provider

• Identify informational frictions, their impact on the mechanics of exchange and the monitoring role of intermediaries

• Understand the basic rules of the economic theory of contracts and their connection with the corporate financing policies 

• Assess the impact of information technology infrastructures like machine learning tools or distributed ledgers on the functioning of financial markets

• To assess the quality of financial market infrastructures and their effectiveness in facilitating exchange and providing reliable information.

• To understand the fundamental risk and return characteristics of individual financial contracts.

• To analyze the overall structure of corporate financial policies and the functional roles of key financial institutions.

• To examine the strategic interactions among financial stakeholders within a digital infrastructure and evaluate regulatory approaches aimed at mitigating conflicts of interest and enhancing network synergies.

• Lectures
• Guest speaker's talks (in class or in distance)
• Practical Exercises
• Interaction/Gamification

• A guest speaker will be invited to discuss the practice of a specific discipline or a business case discussed during face-to-face lectures
• Practical Exercises where the theory discussion will be operationalized with a business case
• We will rely on IT devices (Game or AI tools) to exemplify the issues emerging in the practice of financial contracting.

- Two partial exams (30%+30%)

- Group Assignment (40%)

Final written individual exam

No reference textbook is adopted for the first edition of this course.

The teaching material will be made available by the instructor in Blackboard and will include notes, handouts, and a list of business cases relevant for the final exam. Optional readings, useful but not necessary to prepare for the final exam, will be included and classified as FURTHER READING.