This course analyzes financial statements of financial institutions from
the perspective of investors, bankers, and consultants. It provides a
framework to identify, understand, and analyze key performance metrics
of banks.
Takeaways
Unique aspects of their business model
Overview of the key assets and liabilities
Overview of key revenue and expense items
Key accounting standards and their impact on financial statements
Key performance metrics and drivers of ROE and price-to-book ratios
Prerequisites
Core course in Financial Accounting
Materials
We will not require a textbook. We will distribute materials in class. We
will go through several financial statements in class. Some of the key
companies are listed below:
Wells Fargo
Bank of America
Citigroup
Silicon Valley Bank
Attendance and penalty for missing classes
Requiring attendance is necessary for several reasons. First, you cannot
assume that you can catch up on a missed class by watching a recording (if
available). Videos do not engage your brain as much as a live class.
Second, less than 20% of you watch the recording (if available). You are
then lost in class, which provides the wrong signals to me as an
instructor. Third, your absence hurts class discussions. Fourth, you miss
out on feedback if you do not work through the questions I pose in class.
Fifth, I lose the feedback since there are fewer questions.
The policy below will be in effect only after the add/drop
period.
Without mandatory attendance, attendance is often below 50%. Therefore,
though I dislike doing this, I penalize absences. If you anticipate being
absent for good reasons, please email me well in advance. Please enter
"Excused" on the attendance sheet described below to avoid the
penalty if I approve. If you miss a class due to emergencies and cannot
tell me in advance, do not panic. Take care of the emergency first, and
then email me. I will permit you to change the "Absent" to
"Excused." But if you miss a class without a valid reason, there
is a penalty, as stated below.
For sections meeting in 150-190 minute sessions, you will lose one
grade (A to A-, A- to B+, B+ to B, B to B-, and so on) for EVERY missed
session unless you were explicitly excused via email. Thus, if you miss
two class sessions, you will lose two grades, and so on.
For sections meeting in 75-80 minute sessions, you will lose one grade
(A to A-, A- to B+, B+ to B, B to B-, and so on) for EVERY TWO missed
sessions unless you were explicitly excused via email. Thus, if you miss
four class sessions, you will lose two grades, and so on.
Please sit in the same seat in every class and display your name tags. For
Zoom classes, you must keep your video on AT ALL TIMES. You must also have
a good working headset or mic, as it is extremely rude to be inaudible and
force me to ask you to repeat yourself. After entering the class, please
mark yourself present in the first 20 minutes on the OneDrive sheet (link
posted on Brightspace).
You will be marked absent if you are more than 20 minutes late unless it
is because of factors beyond your control (traffic, subway, or
interviews running late). You will also be marked absent if you leave
the class early unless you have my permission or get it afterward. You
will get an F in the course if you are caught cheating on the attendance
sheet.
Exams and Grading
There are no in-class quizzes or midterms. There is a final exam.
Please read about the penalty for missing classes above.
Assignments: 50%. They will be due at the beginning of each class except
the first class.
Final exam: 50%
System Requirements
Please contact NYU IT (askit@nyu.edu, 212-998-3333) or NYU Stern IT
(helpdesk@stern.nyu.edu, 212-998-0180) for all Zoom/email/NYU
Brightspace/Admin/CapitalIQ issues. Please do not copy/contact us.
Brightspace and NYU groups send all emails to the @nyu.edu (not
@stern.nyu.edu) address, while Stern class mail lists send emails to
@stern.nyu.edu. You must check BOTH emails and use the correct browser
profile. Please contact IT to figure this out. Do not write to Almaris
or me if you do not get Almaris emails because this issue is between NYU
and you.
Per Stern rule, only registered students can attend. We cannot override
this rule.
You will need a computer in every class. Either MAC or Windows is OK.