FINM8007 REVISION NOTES
This course aims to equip students with the theoretical and analytical skills necessary to appreciate and
assess key issues in international financial markets.
o The first half of this course covers the following issues: the fundamental principles of foreign
exchange; foreign exchange systems; exchange rate determination; forward market; international
parity conditions; arbitrage and speculation; and financial risk management methodologies.
o The second half of this course aims to build on some of the key concepts from these issues by
examining three Special Topics: one, analysis of the Chinese Renminbi markets; two, forward
premium anomaly; and three, anomalies in international financial markets.
Second Half: Special Topics
Let us focus on the second half of the course (Special Topics) first. Incorporating Special Topics into this
course has the following objectives:
o It enables you to appreciate how international finance concepts are applied to the
discussion of various important topics in international finance, which include the Chinese
Renminbi, forward premium anomaly, and anomalies in international financial markets.
o It enables you to develop various research skills, such as:
Accessing a wide range of resources to obtain relevant and up-to-date information;
Analyzing, authenticating, and interpreting current information, and turning it into knowledge;
Developing the ability to engage in informed critical analysis.
Most of the journal articles assigned for the Special Topics are based on recent research, with
several of them published less than five years ago. Including these articles in the Special Topics
provides you with exposure to current topics in empirical research in international finance.
Half of the journal articles in these Special Topics are based on my recent research. I hope that
this research-led learning and teaching approach would enable students to learn more relevant and up-
to-date materials and develop analytical and thinking skills through engagement with recent research.
Special Topic 1: Analysis of the Chinese Renminbi markets
Relation to other topics in this course Topics 3 (Exchange Rate Determination); Topic 4
(Forward Market and International Parity
Conditions); Topic 6 (Foreign Exchange Risk
Management)
Key concepts of this Special Topic Public news/information arrivals; forward market
versus spot market; regime-switching model;
conditional heteroskedasticity (time-varying
variance); price discovery (information shares);
causality tests
Ho, K., Shi, Y., and Zhang, Z. 2017. Does news
matter in China’s foreign exchange market?
Chinese RMB volatility and public information
arrivals. International Review of Economics and
Finance 52, 302-321.
News arrivals; regime-switching conditional
heteroskedasticity
Ho, K., Shi, Y., and Zhang, Z. 2018. Public
information arrival, price discovery and dynamic
correlations in the Chinese renminbi markets.
North American Journal of Economics and Finance
46, 168-186.
News arrivals; price discovery; causality tests; time-
varying correlations
Special Topic 2: Forward premium anomaly
Relation to other topics in this course Topic 3 (Exchange Rate Determination); Topic 4
(Forward Market and International Parity
Conditions); Topic 5 (Arbitrage and Speculation)
FINM8007S22022 REVISION
2
Key concepts of this Special Topic Forward premium puzzle; time-varying risk
premium; forecasting performance; market
microstructure and heterogeneous
expectations/beliefs; and types of traders (noise
traders, chartism, and role of fundamentals).
Jongen, R., Verschoor, W., and Wolff, C. 2008.
Foreign exchange rate expectations: survey and
synthesis. Journal of Economic Surveys 22, 140-
165.
Forward premium puzzle; time-varying risk
premium; forecasting performance; market
microstructure and heterogeneous
expectations/beliefs; and types of traders (noise
traders, chartism, and role of fundamentals).
Special Topic 3: Anomalies in international financial markets
Relation to other topics in this course Topic 3 (Exchange rate determination); Topic 4
(Forward market and interest rate parity); Topic 6
(Foreign exchange risk management).
Key concepts of this Special Topic Value premium; Idiosyncratic volatility (IVOL)
puzzle; Liquidity premium; Decomposition analysis;
Intangible information (INTAN); Arbitrage risk.
An, J., Ho, K., and Zhang, Z. 2020. What drives the
liquidity premium in the Chinese stock market?
North American Journal of Economics and Finance
54, 101088.
Liquidity premium; Decomposition; IVOL
Ho, K., and An, J. 2020. Decomposing the value
premium: the role of intangible information in
the Chinese stock market. Emerging Markets
Review 44, 10700.
Value premium; Decomposition; INTAN; Arbitrage
Risk; IVOL
Hou, K., and Loh, R. 2016. Have we solved the
idiosyncratic volatility puzzle? Journal of
Financial Economics 121, 167-194.
IVOL puzzle; Decomposition.
Shi, Y., Liu, W., and Ho, K. 2016. Public news
arrival and the idiosyncratic volatility puzzle.
Journal of Empirical Finance 37, 159-172.
IVOL puzzle; news.
You must be familiar with the relevant lecture slides and other materials (such as Practice Questions).
In addition, you must be familiar with the relevant reports and articles stated in “Guidelines on
reading reports and journal articles”.
Warning: plagiarism has serious consequences. When answering any problem related to the Special Topics
in the exam, you: [1] must paraphrase, use your own words, and write in complete sentences and paragraphs;
[2] must not cut and paste sentences and paragraphs directly from the journal articles; [3] must use the
Harvard-style of referencing in your answers by having proper in-text citations and a SINGLE list of references
containing the citations. For examples of the Harvard-style referencing, you can refer to the ANU website:
https://www.anu.edu.au/students/academic-skills/academic-integrity/referencing/harvard. Alternatively,
please follow the referencing style adopted by any of the journal articles assigned for the Special Topics. If
in doubt whether you should include a citation in your answers, the advice is to play it safe and include it.
Marks will be deducted for not including in-text citations and a list of references in your answers.
Warning: if you are asked to write your answers within a word limit, you must stick to the word limit. Any
sentences and paragraphs that exceed the word limit will NOT be marked. For instance, if the word limit is
200 words and you have submitted an answer containing 230 words, then only the first 200 words will be
marked and the last 30 words will not be marked.
FINM8007S22022 REVISION
3
First Half of the Course
Topic Key Concepts
Introduction to International Finance/Foreign
Exchange Markets
Functions, Roles, Spot Rates, Cross Rates,
Triangular Arbitrage, Bid-Ask Spreads.
Foreign Exchange Market Systems Currency Regimes, Fixed Versus Flexible,
Undervaluation, Overvaluation, Measures and Uses
of Exchange Rates, Exchange-Rate Pass Through.
Exchange Rate Determination Demand and Supply, Theories of Exchange Rate
Determination (PPP, Current Account, Asset
Market, Relative Growth Rates, News and
Expectations), Forecasting.
Forward Market and International Parity Conditions Forward Market, Forward Premium/Discount,
Connection between International Money and
Foreign Exchange Markets, Interest Rate Parity
(IRP).
Arbitrage and Speculation Violation of International Parity Conditions, Covered
Interest Arbitrage, Uncovered Interest Arbitrage,
Foreign Currency Swaps, Speculation.
Foreign Exchange Risk Management Risk and Exposure, Three Major Foreign Exchange
Exposures, Measurement and Management of
Foreign Exchange Exposure, Hedging Techniques
(Forward, Money Market Hedge, Options).
You must be familiar with the relevant lecture slides, Practice Questions and Exercises (PQE) and
Short Quizzes (SQ). The lecture slides also indicate the relevant chapters that you have to read.
References
An, J., Ho, K., and Zhang, Z. 2020. What drives the liquidity premium in the Chinese stock market? North
American Journal of Economics and Finance 54, 101088.
Ho, K., and An, J. 2020. Decomposing the value premium: the role of intangible information in the Chinese
stock market. Emerging Markets Review 44, 100700.
Ho, K., Shi, Y., and Zhang, Z. 2017. Does news matter in China’s foreign exchange market? Chinese RMB
volatility and public information arrivals. International Review of Economics and Finance 52, 302-321.
Ho, K., Shi, Y., and Zhang, Z. 2018. Public information arrival, price discovery and dynamic correlations in
the Chinese renminbi markets. North American Journal of Economics and Finance 46, 168-186.
Hou, K., and Loh, R. 2016. Have we solved the idiosyncratic volatility puzzle? Journal of Financial Economics
121, 167-194.
Jongen, R., Verschoor, W., and Wolff, C. 2008. Foreign exchange rate expectations: survey and synthesis.
Journal of Economic Surveys 22, 140-165.
Shi, Y., Liu, W., and Ho, K. 2016. Public news arrival and the idiosyncratic volatility puzzle. Journal of
Empirical Finance 37, 159-172.