Globalization, Finance and the Supply Chain

This combined course created by Stanley Epstein covers many aspects of globalization, finance, and the supply chain.

This course begins with a high level view of the FinTech world; the financial services value chain, FinTech’s definition, concept, scope and terminology, before moving to a detailed view of financial service functions and clusters of innovation in six key areas – Payments, Market Provisioning, Investment Management, Insurance, Deposits & Lending and Raising Capital. We examine each of these functions in terms of the current “clusters” of innovation, the key disruptive trends, the main thrust of current developments and the specific implications for financial institutions. We then take a wider view the blockchain, Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies in terms of what they are and how they work as well as their respective advantages and disadvantages and the risks they could introduce.

Next we work to build a comprehensive foundation for understanding all aspects of International Trade in a global context. We cover the key principles, concepts, infrastructures, practices, issues, and current developments in the world of International Trade Finance. We then explore the key concern in International Trade, which is providing a safe conduit for the transfer of ownership of the shipment in return for payment, as well as a comprehensive examination of the different payment Instruments that may be used to settle International Trade transactions, including the process, the advantages/disadvantages and the risks attached to each. Next we talk about how international payments are made and begin to look at supply chain finance.

Supply Chain Finance refers to a variety of financing and business processes aimed at providing short-term credit to improve the working capital situation throughout the supply chain for both buyers and sellers, and is the next topic we explore.

We then take a step-by-step approach covering the fundamental steps required to identify, manage, and mitigate operational risks, and cover key aspects of operational risk management including critical issues such as risk analysis, risk appetite, probability, impact, risk mitigation process, and prioritization.

Next we examine each of the seven operational risks categories, and explore a detailed explanation on each risk explaining what it is, what type of events are involved, why these activities pose a risk, and provides participants with clear practical examples.

We then explore the current practice in the field of managing operational risk in financial institutions and examine each of these principles and their relative implementation factors – what the principle means and what should be addressed in putting its requirements in place. We also put the principles to the test when examining a detailed banking Case Study.

Finally, we discuss clear definitions and analogies for blockchain technology, as well Bitcoin, Ethereum, blockchain, and initial coin offerings, and highlight promising use cases for the technology as a whole. Our aim is to create an understanding of what the blockchain is and how it works, in as non-technical a manner as is possible, so the language we are going to use is removed from the “techno-speak” that currently surrounds the subject, but sufficiently technical so as not to lose the critical elements and features of the process.