By the end of the course, participants will be able to:

• Develop a deep understanding of the FX market, its mechanics and major participants
• Analyze the role and impact of central banks on FX and money markets
• Examine the nature of money supply, open market operations and quantitative easing
• Demonstrate a thorough understanding of liquidity, capital adequacy and solvency
• Apply analytical skills to key financial products within global money markets
• Explain the logic and uses of financial derivatives – forwards, swaps and options
• Develop an understanding of key strands of financial risk management

Content

Interface of money markets and foreign exchange (FX)

• Size of the markets
• Issuance of Treasury instruments, repos, and commercial paper
• Overview of the Euromarkets
• Legacy issues relating to London Interbank Offered Rate (LIBOR)
• Secured Overnight Financing Rate (SOFR), SONIA, ESTER
• Treasury bill issuance in different jurisdictions
• The mechanics of the Repo market
• Forward rates for interest rate and FX
• Effective yields when risk adjusted for FX exposures
• Arbitrage and interest rate parity
• Current market conditions
• Risk premia, key money markets spreads and currency outlook

Role of central banks in the financial system

• Overview of central banks
• Federal Reserve
• European Central Bank
• People’s Bank of China
• Bank of Japan
• Bank of England
• Structure of a central bank balance sheet
• Characteristics of central bank’s assets and liabilities
• Lender of last resort
• Summary of Open Market Operations
• Unorthodox monetary policy including quantitative easing (QE)
• Independence of central banks
• Financial stability and macro-prudential policy
• Forward guidance and transparency of decision making
• Management of FX reserves and exchange rate policy
• Nature of payments systems – real-time gross settlement systems (RTGS), net settlement, Fedwire, Target2

Monetary policy and money supply

• Overview of the policy committees
• Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC)
• Monetary Policy Committee of the Bank of England (MPC of BOE)
• European Central Bank (ECB Governing Council)
• The People’s Bank of China (PBOC) governance
• Overview of money supply
• Monetary tools and how they impact money supply
• How is money created in a modern economy
• Inflation targeting
• Central bank reserves
• Explanation of the Taylor rule
• Term structure of interest rates

Foreign exchange market characteristics

• Size of market, volumes, participants, major currency pairs
• Regional breakdown of where and when most FX trading takes place
• Key role of London market in FX trading
• Historical background to today’s FX market
• Role of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and Special Drawing Rights (SDR’s)
• Global FX reserves
• Review of several key historical FX rates
• Price of gold and relationship to the US Dollar index

TRAINING METHODOLOGY

The training methodology combines lectures, discussions, group exercises and illustrations. Participants will gain both theoretical and practical knowledge of the topics. The emphasis is on the practical application of the topics and as a result participant will go back to the workplace with both the ability and the confidence to apply the techniques learned to their duties.

This course is available in the following locations:
Nigeria - $3000
Ghana    - $6000
Rwanda - $7000
UK - $8000
USA - $8000