International capital budgeting

Executive Summary

In today's competitive environment, with companies want to broaden their business not only nationally but also in international markets. When planning on taking your choice on whether to invest in a foreign procedure or not the company needs to examine various options it has. Capital Budgeting techniques are being used in order to evaluate or compare different proposals. There's a difference in capital budgeting techniques for foreign functions as several factors such as exchange rates, inflation rates, obstructed funds, government guidelines, etc.

The profits arising out of overseas operations are different for the subsidiary company and parent company. Cash Flows should be computed for the trader i. e. the father or mother company in case the NPV of cash moves after subsequent adjustments comes out to be positive for mother or father company the investment decision might seem successful. Although an optimistic NPV for subsidiary would also enhance the wealth of the organization but generally parent company's in many cases are just a little hesitant to invest. Favourable condition is the one where both companies have a confident return.

The cost of capital also needs to be estimated effectively by making suitable modifications. Overall cost of capital should be lowered having an optimal cost framework within several constraints.

Several Decisions need to be created by the International Money Manager on whether to expand, postpone or reject the job in cases of sudden climb or fall popular. Generally, companies do not wish to abandon the job as coming into and departing market is more costlier than bearing functional loss for sometime. Careful attention to the demand and other overseas and local government policies enter into picture while taking this decision.

Introduction

Many firms around the world carry out business activities in more than one country such organizations are known as Multinational Corporations (MNC's). With increase in globalization such activities have been on a rise. Many Indian companies also after the inception of Liberalization, Globalization and Privatization policy have began to raise funds in foreign market segments, export goods and services, import goods and services and even spend abroad. However, the basics of financial management do not change whether the organization is home or an International company i. e. a company which includes significant foreign businesses. Although there are a few factors that need to be considered in International companies such as money denominations, tax and other Government implications, varying accounting standards, barriers to operate and financial moves and politics risk.

One of the key factors for firms having their operations in foreign countries is the exchange rate. Exchange rate unlike few years back (1971) where devaluations and revaluations happened only very seldom has given way to the system of floating exchange rates. In a system of completely floating exchange rates, the comparative prices of the currencies are identified completely by the demand-supply distance. Authorities in that system do not attempt to influence the pace movements. But such an excellent system does not exist. Governments in all countries attempt to influence the activities of exchange prices either through immediate intervention or through a variety of monetary and fiscal procedures as they regard exchange rate as an essential macro-economic variable. Such something is called soiled float.

Exchange rate immediately affects the estimation of budget of an international investment. So in order to effectively forecast the budget or success of a job it is essential to forecast the exchange rates for future.

Exchange Rates

An exchange presents the price tag on one currency portrayed in conditions of another. There are two ways of quoting an exchange rate.

Direct Offer: A kind of quote in which exchange rate for a foreign currency is quoted in conditions of volume of items of local money that are add up to a single unit of forex. For example when it is said that exchange rate for money is Rs 46, it illustrates a direct quote for Money.

Indirect Price: A type of quote in which exchange rate for a forex is quoted in terms of variety of units of foreign currency that are equal to a product of local currency. For example when it's said that $0. 0233 is add up to Re. 1, it illustrates an indirect price for Dollar.

Since 1993, the interbank forex in India has been using system of direct quote, prior to that it used a system of indirect offer.

International Standards Group has developed three letter rules for many currencies that are being used by the SWIFT network that impacts the inter-bank fund transfers. Codes for a couple currencies are:

Spot Rate Quotations

Spot Rate identifies the rate of any foreign exchange agreement for immediate delivery. Though it is said to be immediate its negotiation is performed in two business days after the date of business deal.

A quotation involves two prices. The first price is the bid price i. e. the price of which the seller is ready to buy. The next price is the ask price i. e. the purchase price of which the dealer is willing to sell. The difference between your two prices is known as the bet - ask - get spread around. It reflects the breadth, depth and volatility of the currency market. The pass on is generally expressed in percentage conditions. For e. g. if USD/INR Location :46. 2500/46. 2600, this means that the seller would buy one US dollar for Rs 46. 2500 and sell one US dollars for Rs 46. 6000. In this particular the bid - ask - spread is:

Cross Rate Quotations

If the exchange rate between currencies A and B and currencies B and C is well known then your exchange rate between currencies A and C can be dependant on the following: S(A/C) = S(A/B) x S(B/C)

Forward Rate Quotations

A rate which is fixed today however the arrangement for the orders occurs at some specified date in the foreseeable future. Banks normally offer forward rates for maturities in the complete calendar months.

For commercial customers it is described in the same way as quotation for place rate. For e. g. :

USD/INR 3 - Month Forward : 46. 4220/46. 5210

The above assertion indicates that after three months lender would buy one buck for 46. 4220 and sell one buck for 46. 5210.

However, in the interbank market the forwards quotes are given as a pair of swap points which can be then added or subtracted from onward quotation. The swap quote only expresses the difference between the spot quote and forward estimate. Decimals are not written in swap quotations and are symbolized the following:

Conversion of Swap Rate into Outright Rate

Swap rate can be converted into outright rate with the addition of prime or subtracting the discount from place rate. In case the forward bid rate in points is more than offer rate then the forward rate reaches a premium and hence the things are added to the spot rate in order to get outright rate. When the forward bid rate is more than the offer rate in tips then the swap items are subtracted from the location rate. The swap quotation is normally expressed such that the previous digit coincides with the same place as the previous digit of spot price. So, in USD/INR offer given above, the pace 20/10 would mean INR 0. 0020/INR 0. 0010.

On request of the aforementioned guideline to the example, the outright frontward quotation would be: USD/INR 1 month frontward: 46. 5005/46. 5020.

Forward Rates and Discounts

If the united states dollar is costlier in the front market than in today's market then it is stated that it's at a in advance premium in relation to Rupee. Similarly if it is cheaper in the front market it is stated to be at a discount in relation to Rupee. With two way quotations there is no single unique way of quantifying the superior or discounts. A proven way frequently used is expressing high quality or discount as an annualized percentage deviation from spot rate.

Forward advanced(discount) = (n-day onward rate - location rate)/spot rate x 360/n

n - amount of forward contract in quantity of times

Futures and Options in Foreign Currencies

An option to the forwards market is the futures market. The money futures deals are standardised money forward deals in conditions of size of the contract and delivery times.

The difference between forward contracts and futures is that forwards are custom-made whereas futures are standardized deals.

International Parity Relationships

In order to have constant international financial policy a marriage between interest levels, inflation rates and exchange rates needs to be understood. Following theories suffice this goal:

Covered Interest Arbitrage and INTEREST Parity

It is an investment strategy whereby an trader will buy a financial tool denominated in a forex and hedges his forex risk by providing a forward agreement in the quantity of the proceeds of the investment back to base currency.

Combined effect of such orders and market pressures result in an equilibrium romantic relationship which is known as interest parity (IRP) which preludes protected interest arbitrage deals. When IRP is accessible, the difference between ahead rate and the location rate is enough to offset the difference between interest rates in two currencies. IRP condition areas that the home interest rate must be higher or less than the foreign interest by a quantity equal to forward discount or high quality on home money. IRP can be explained the following:

Purchasing Electric power Parity

According to the concept of purchasing electricity parity barring the consequences of barriers associated with the activity of goods or services across countries, price of each product shall be same in each country, after making the appropriate currency conversions. Additionally it is known as regulation of 1 price in economics. For goods which cannot be easily stored or transported law of 1 price doesn't carry, but for goods like crude oil and gold which can be easily stored and transported there aren't major deviations from rules of one price.

A less strict form of Purchasing Power Parity is called the relative purchasing power parity which suggests that the difference in inflation rate between two countries is offset by the change in trade rate. Relative Purchasing Electricity Parity can be portrayed the following:

International Capital Budgeting

Once a firm has reached a decision to invest in foreign countries the next matter to do is to evaluate various projects/proposals. The analysis of the long term investment project is recognized as capital budgeting. The technique of capital budgeting is quite similar for both a local company and a global company. The difference is the fact that in order to evaluate for a global company different aspects have to be taken into account such as computation of cashflow relating to task in viewpoint of both mother or father and subsidiary, cost of capital, etc.

Evaluation Criteria

An investment proposal can be examined using two types of method non-discounting and discounting methods. The non-discounting methods are simple to compute but aren't as accurate as discounting methods as they do not take into consideration the time value of money. The emphasis would mainly be on the discounting methods.

Non-Discounting Methods

Average Accounting Rate of Return: It takes into account profit before interest and tax with respect to investment. The revenue is then compared to the required rate of come back. A job is appropriate if the mean earnings is greater than the mandatory rate of return. The negative areas of this method are that it is based on accounting income rather than on the money circulation; it considers earnings before tax and it also ignores the time value of money.

Pay Again Period: It's the number of years required to be able to recover the original investment. This method mainly targets early recovery of cash but will not consider the cash flow after the repay period i. e. it generally does not look at the life of the task. The advantage of such non-discounting methods are that they are easy to compute and can be used in the original stages of project in order to compare which job would be able to recover the investment quicker.

Discounting Methods

Net Present Value: In this approach projects are accepted where in fact the present value of online cash inflow through the life time of task is higher than initial investment. It is computed using.

Choice between different methods

During assessing two proposals sometimes the result of two methods varies as they relax on different assumptions concerning the reinvestment of funds released from the task. The NPV rule implies reinvestment at a level equivalent to the required rate of return which is utilized as the discount rate whereas IRR assumes the funds to be reinvested at IRR. However, when this happens NPV is given preference as there are a few limitations of IRR method. Firstly, where assignments of different life time are considered IRR inflates desirability of the short-life job as IRR is a function of both the time engaged and size of capital investment. Subsequently, IRR remains to be lower on tasks with an extended gestation period, even though NPV remains greater because IRR is high in those jobs where several benefits accrue in early on part of these economic life. Thirdly, there's a possibility of two IRR rates coming for a given NPV because they are computed using a polynomial equation.

Between PI and NPV, NPV is given desire as it signifies an absolute value.

Computation of the money Flow

The decision to begin a new project requires outlay of cashflow in form of investment but in return earns funds and adds to the firm's stock of prosperity in future. Cash Flow can be grouped under three heads:

1. Initial Investment during the period, to
2. Operating cashflow during the period, t1 to tn
3. Terminal cash flow or salvage value emerging at the end og the time, tn.

The pursuing factors should be kept in mind:

• Cash Flow is considered on after - tax basis
• Financing cost is not included despite the fact that capital has a cost because such costs are believed elsewhere while determining project's required rate of return
• Cash move is computed by using an incremental basis and signifies the difference between cashflow after the investment and cashflow in absence of investment
• Certain costs do not involve cash flow but require opportunity cost, such costs are included in the decision process

Parent Unit's Perspective and the money Flow

In multinational capital budgeting the question develops whether to compute the cash flow from viewpoint of the parent company or viewpoint of subsidiary company because cash outflow of one could be cash inflow for the other. For e. g. if the subsidiary company gives the mother or father company a royalty fees then it becomes an inflow for the parent company but it can be an outflow for the subsidiary company. It is difficult to have a decision on whether to accept or reject a proposal in such instances. In fact there could be many situations when the disparity in the money flow between the parent and its subsidiary occurs. For example if the taxes rates in home country and international country will vary disparity in cashflow would arise. It's possible that on account of lower taxes rates in overseas country the after tax cash inflow is large enough to justify the investment proposal. On the other hand high tax rates in the home country might provide the investment proposal infeasible from viewpoint of the parent or guardian company. The father or mother company might reject the proposal scheduled to low cash inflow due to exchange control applied by the international government, despite the cashflow being sufficient for implementation. In times where mother or father company charges the subsidiary exorbitantly for the utilization of technology and management, the cash inflow accruing to the mother or father company will be much larger justifying the investment decision. Lastly, changes in trade rate may change the money flow of parent company. When the money of the foreign country appreciates father or mother company gets a larger flow of cash in terms of its currency. This might adjust the accept-reject decision.

In corporate financial management the value of the job depends upon net present value of the future cash flows open to the entrepreneur. Since, mother or father company is one which invests in the project, it's the cash flow of the mother or father company that is considered in the framework of international capital budgeting.

Initial Investment

If the entire task cost is attained by the parent company the whole amount of original investment is cured as the money outflow. You will discover instances when the project is partially financed by the subsidiary itself through local borrowings but such borrowings do not form a part of the original cash outflow.

In some conditions the subsidiary company makes additional investment for enlargement out of the retained earnings, when this happens there is no cash outflow from the parent company but such costs should be treated as opportunity costs because in lack of retention of income, these funds could have been transferred to mother or father company somewhat than committed to the project in question. Thus, the investment out of retained profits should be cured as cash outflow from father or mother company's perspective.

Sometimes foreign government imposes exchange control and will not allow the cash to stream to the mother or father company. Such cash are called as clogged funds. Because of this the part of the cash that is obstructed is not cured as cash inflow from the parent's point of view. However, if the clogged money are reinvested in some new job then that amount is considered as investment by the parent or guardian company.

Operating cash flow

Besides the original investment, some adjustments have to be designed to the operating cashflow as well. The income made through the sales of your subsidiary's product in the neighborhood market as well as in other countries is shown as cash inflow to the mother or father company but it is at the mercy of downward adjustment by the lost income on sales previously realized through parent or guardian company's export to these marketplaces. Alternatively if procedure in the subsidiary leads to import of components and raw material from parent or guardian company value of such transfer will be put into the income.

The transfer charges, when the parent company or any other product of the organization charges price for intra-firm copy of intermediate goods, also affects the operating cashflow. The transfer costs is adopted either for better working capital management or wavering of taxes through moving of before-tax income to a country with lower duty rates. When copy pricing lowers the overall taxes burden on the parent company it is cared for as cash inflow. However, such inflows are discounted at a higher rate because they require great risk.

If there are bonuses from the foreign government, they are really contained in capital budgeting. For instance, if foreign authorities offers loan at a subsidized rate then your gains from this incentive is treated as operating cash inflow.

When the subsidiary takes loans locally, the quantity of interest repayment is deducted from working cash inflow. In case of local capital budgeting it isn't the case as financing cost is included in the discount rate, however in case of international capital budgeting, the cash remitted to parent or guardian company would seem to be overstated if interest repayments are not cared for as cash outflow.

Inflation influences both cost and the earnings streams of the project and hence inflation rate differential must also be taken into account. When the inflation rate is higher in foreign country and when the transfer from the parent company constitutes a significant portion of the type of subsidiary, the cost will not move up very high but if the inputs are bought locally the price increase may be considerable. Similarly, earnings would progress when there is no competition from foreign suppliers and the demand for the merchandise is price inelastic. Although if inflation rates are extremely fluctuating it becomes very difficult to make an accurate forecast as the inflation differential would continue changing.

The exchange rate fluctuation affects the size of the cash stream. Changes in trade rate are not only due to the changes in inflation rates but several other factors. It is difficult to predict the behaviour of those factors. Nevertheless, the money movement computation process features different situations of exchange rate motions. If there is an understanding in the worthiness of foreign currency, it is wonderful for the parent or guardian company as it'll improve the size of cash inflow in conditions of home currency. This gain may be offset by the high inflation rate but if in the foreseeable future the speed of inflation is likely to lower thus aiding appreciate the worthiness of foreign country's currency, the subsidiary should spend locally the obligations to the parent company till the building up of money.

Terminal Cash Flow

When salvage value of your task is uncertain the mother or father company makes several estimates of salvage value or terminal cash flow and computes the NPV predicated on each possible result of terminal cash flow. Otherwise, it computes the chance even salvage i. e. terminal cash flow necessary to be able to achieve zero NPV for the job. Rest even salvage value is then in comparison to estimated cash flow. If the approximated terminal cash flow is significantly less than break in the action even salvage value, the investment proposal would be declined as the NPV would be negative. On the other hand if the subsidiary would sell for more than break-even salvage value then this might be included into diagnosis of whether to simply accept the task or reject it.

To further make clear the terminal cashflow, we would break up the cash move beginning from the first 12 months to the nth year into operating cashflow (OCFt) and terminal cashflow (TCFn).

So from the above equation we can conclude that in order to compute chance even terminal cash flow we have to first estimate the present value of operating cash flows or the near future cash moves without salvage value. When computed it is deducted from preliminary investment and difference is multiplied by (1+k)n.

Parent-Subsidiary Point of view: An Alternative Approach

In the earlier approach we examined that NPV of the buyer is considered rather than project while deciding on whether to purchase a certain job or not. But if project's NPV is positive, it will add to corporate wealth of organization as a whole. Under this process two NPV's are computed, one from father or mother company's perspective and other is the NPV of the task. Finally the popularity or rejection decision is based on NPV of both of these.

In order to analyze the NPVP or Online Present Value from Parent company's perspective pursuing steps are considered:

1. Estimate the money flow in overseas currency
2. Estimate the near future spot exchange rate based on available onward rates
3. Convert the forex cash flow into home currency
4. Find home money using home money discount rate

Similarly to determine NPVS or World wide web present value from subsidiary's point of view pursuing steps are used:

1. Estimate cash flow in international currency
2. Identify the foreign currency discount rate
3. Discount the foreign currency cashflow at foreign currency discount rate
4. Convert the resultant NPV in to the home country currency at location exchange rate.

In the aforementioned case the money inflow represents the wages of the task in forex irrespective of the actual fact whether cash goes towards or away from the parent unit.

The two methods above presume all-equity capital structure therefore, if the parity conditions existed in real life the two approaches would give the same value. But generally personal debt is normally included in capital structure in order to lower the expense of capital and moreover parity conditions do not are present. The possible results could be:

• NPVP and NPVS: both negative and in such a case task is rejected
• NPVP and NPVS: both positive; when this happens task is accepted
• NPVP>0>NPVS: The project is attractive from parent or guardian company's point of view however, not from subsidiary company's point of view. When this happens job could be accepted but there are chances of loss in value in conditions of forex.
• NPVP<0

Cost of Capital

So considerably, in assessing the job the concentration has only been on the numerator of NPV formula. The denominator of formula which is recognized as discount rate is based on risk altered cost of capital and plays a substantial role in computing cashflow.

Cost of Equity Shares

Dividend is the cost of equity stocks. The computation of cost of collateral shares is not easy as there is absolutely no fixed obligation for repayment of dividend to equity shareholder. Sometimes the price tag on equity is dependant on historical rate of return. Some companies keep their dividends set irrespective of whether they earn a earnings or incur damage. The issue with this technique though is the fact it does not embrace anticipations about future performance of the organization. Usually, it relies on current value of shares. The price tag on equity show P, is equal to present value of expected dividend D given the chance fine-tuned rate ke required by investors.

Ke = D/P0

Since shareholders expect growing rate of dividend per share.

Ke = D/P0 + g

g - Growth factor

International Investment and Cost of Capital

The cost of capital within an MNC is not the same as a home company. Since MNC has easy access to international capital market therefore it gets fund form least cost source. Essentially an MNC can internationally diversify its sources of funds and so ensure a stable inflow of funds. The subsidiary can also make some borrowings in the international country if it sees the expense of capital to be low over there. However in international investment the circulation of money is highly exposed to exchange rate changes therefore raising the individual bankruptcy cost and convincing the collectors and shareholders to need a higher level of return on capital. International operation is also subject to politics risk which also requires a higher rate of come back on capital. Thus, facts such as mentioned above all have to be considered and incorporated while computing the price of capital for a multinational company.

Adjustments to Cost of Capital

Had the administrative centre market been efficient the price tag on capital in several countries would be analogous and hence parent company's cost of capital may be used for discounting cash flow from foreign businesses without any modification. But, in practice it isn't the case and hence a few changes to the cost of capital are essential. If cashflow is low priced at subsidiary level cost of capital obtained in international country is utilized for this purpose. But in circumstances where the parent or guardian unit uses home country cost of capital some modifications are created.

Firstly, the administrative centre composition in MNC's and local companies varies. In MNC firms whose businesses are well diversified across countries there would be comparatively more stable cashflow allowing them to handle more debt. On the other hand MNC's which have large profits use more of their maintained earnings somewhat than personal debt.

The capital composition norms also rely upon the guidelines and rules in foreign countries. In international countries where collateral participation is fixed to lower boundaries, debt:equity percentage is high. Also when the subsidiary is subjected to exchange rate risk an increased debt:equity proportion is desirable. But if the political risks are high in the international country the MNC's depend more on Loan from foreign creditors as they might pressurize the local government to keep up good relationships with MNC's. But again if the interest i. e. cost of personal debt is high in foreign countries as may be the circumstance in many expanding countries MNC's tend to use more collateral capital. Thus, when a MNC invests in various different countries its capital structure would fluctuate in each country which would be different from its global aim for capital structure. To be able to lessen the difference they choose different norms in different countries, i. e. if in a single country they rely more on debt then in the other they rely more on equity. If debt:equity for any countries taken collectively does not match the mother or father company's capital structure norms adjustments are made by adding reduced to or making a discount to the mother or father company's cost of capital.

Secondly, changes to parent unit's cost of capital are made remember the amount to that your subsidiary can get funds better value either from local market or international market. If cost is lower than cost of mother or father device discount rate must be reduced. The discount rate also needs adjustment for inflation. There are various hazards such as politics, financial or both prevalent in foreign country. The discount rate thus needs an upwards revision.

Adjusted Present Value Approach

There is a method for capital budgeting produced by Lessard which is known as changed present value strategy. It takes into mind the majority of the complexities rising in the computation of cash flow and in conviction of discount rates. Under this technique initial cash flow contains capital cost of project minus blocked funds (if any). This amount is then converted into home country money at spot exchange rate. Likewise, the operating cashflow under the APV approach consists of:

• Present value of after tax cashflow from subsidiary to mother or father changed into home money at expected location rate minus earnings on lost sales of mother or father company
• Present value of taxes tweaked depreciation allowances in terms of home currency
• Present value of contribution of task to borrowing capacity in conditions of home money subject to adjustment for taxes
• Face value of loan in host country money minus present value of repayments changed into home currency
• Present value of expected cost savings due to tax deferrals and transfer pricing
• Present value of expected illegal repatriation of income

Terminal cash flow consists of present value of residual vegetable and equipment. For taxes adjustments APV technique takes into account the higher of the house country and foreign country tax rates. This system is unique in the sense that this uses different discount rates for different kinds of cash flows. The cash stream due to sales and other such income is discounted at an all-equity cost of capital; depreciation allowances are discounted at nominal rate; contribution of project to borrowing capacity is reduced at a riskless rate and the repayment of loans in overseas country is discounted at nominal interest widespread in the overseas country. Also the rate used for discounting the savings on account of fees and of copy pricing and unlawful repatriation includes risk top quality.

Despite its uniqueness it is available that if complexities are designed in cashflow and risk modified weighted average cost of capital is considered at the discount rate the value thus obtained doesn't are different much from the NPV strategy.

Real Options and Task Appraisal

As reviewed above the international investments are a lot more riskier than domestic ventures as the buyer is not completely aware of the economic, politics and other conditions prevailing in overseas country. There's a opportunity of changes in cashflow from the anticipated one. If demand falls all of a sudden then whether to postpone or if situation doesn't improve whether to expand. On the other hand if demand instantly increases whether to develop or not broaden. These are the decisions to be taken by International Funding Manager. A number of options are talked about below there could be many more.

Abandonment

If the NPV computed comes out to be negative credited to sudden climb in raw materials prices or other factors the business might consider abandoning the job. But in circumstance of MNC's it is not easy to give up a project and restart exactly like high costs are incurred for joining and exiting. If once the investment is done companies would prefer to run at a loss for sometime somewhat than abandoning and restarting unless and before losses are very high. Such a predicament where a company is wanting favourable conditions in future is known as hysteresis that mainly develops following changes in trade rates.

Expansion and Contraction

If the demand increases all of a sudden the NPV for expansion would become more and company might think about increasing. But climb and fall in demand are cyclic it could be that demand also falls suddenly in that case the business might incur costs for facilities it isn't using. Companies should assess decision to extend and written agreement carefully.

Conclusion

With upsurge in Globalization and the guidelines of import-export getting more and much more liberal International Functions have become a part of most companies. Many companies turn to invest abroad anticipated to lessen competition or better price benefits. Growing countries like India and China with cheap labour can afford to sell their goods at less price in US. While US can spend money on India to be able to utilize cheap labour. In order to evaluate the feasibility and profitability of the task several factors should be kept in mind. Adjustments anticipated to inflation and other factors should be properly made in order to get an accurate forecast. Failing to do so might lead to inaccurate project evaluation leading to erroneous decisions which would finally impact underneath line of the business.

References

• International Financial Management - PG Apte
• International Financial Management - Vyuptakesh Sharan
• Financial Management - Prasanna Chandra http:/www. investopedia. com en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Capital_budgeting
• www. authorstream. com/. . . /Stomach-64503-Capital-budgeting-CHAPTER-17-OVERVIEW-BASICS-Incremental-budgeti-Education-ppt
• www. gbc. edu/~elsaify/Syllabi/FIN715_Syllabus_Web_0809. pdf