The MSc in Banking and Finance is offered by the Faculty of Economics of the Università della Svizzera italiana, USI, situated in Lugano – Switzerland. This full-time study programme comprises 120 ECTS spread over 4 semesters (usual duration 2 years) and is entirely offered in English.

The Master in Banking and Finance is coordinated by the Swiss Finance Institute and has been designed to provide graduates with the necessary tools and skills for understanding financial markets and products from a banker’s perspective. Lugano being the 3rd financial marketplace in Switzerland provides an ideal venue to offer the best possible start for a successful career in banking or finance.
Lugano è la terza piazza finanziaria della Svizzera ed è quindi il luogo ideale per proporre questo specifico indirizzo di studio accademico.

Obiettivi
Il Master in Banking and Finance mira a fornire agli studenti le informazioni e gli strumenti neccessari per capire i mercati finanziari dal punto di vista del settore bancario. Durante la seconda parte del programma, con gli “elective courses”, gli studenti potranno inoltre approfondire queste conoscenze scegliendo tra una serie di corsi pertinenti al settore.
The degree provides a background in finance methodology as well as the opportunity to go into more depth in selected topics of banking and finance by choosing electives.

Destinatari
The Master in Banking and Finance is aimed at students who wish to pursue careers within the main sectors of banking and finance: Wealth Management, Private Banking, Investment Banking, Commercial Banking, and Corporate Finance. The programme is aimed at bachelor graduates with a background in economics, management, or related disciplines, who are interested in developing general expertise in finance and in the banking sector.
The formal requirement for admission to the Master’s degree in Banking and Finance is the completion of a Bachelor’s degree granted by a recognised university in Economics or related disciplines. Candidates are required to be adequately prepared in the fields of economics and basic quantitative subjects.
Applicants are encouraged (compulsory for applicants with a Bachelor obtained in extra EU country) to provide GRE/GMAT scores in support of their application.
The number of seats is limited.
Candidates with a Bachelor’s degree of a recognised University of Applied Sciences may be admitted with 30-60 additional ECTS to be earned during or before the beginning of the programme, with Bachelor or Master courses according to a study program defined by the scientific director. Admissions will be treated on a case by case basis.
The Master in Banking&Finance is taught entirely in English. Applicants whose first degree was not taught in English, are required to at least have earned a B2 certificate according to the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages or an equivalent level of another proficiency certificate – e.g. TOEFL, IELTS.
As Lugano is located in the Italian-speaking part of Switzerland, students might be interested in acquiring the basics in Italian, in order to be able to get around in everyday life.
The University of Lugano offers an Italian language study programme organized in various modules. All its non Italian-speaking students, researchers and professors are invited to participate free of charge.
In the three weeks preceding the beginning of the fall term, an intensive Italian class is organised.
Courses offered during the semesters
Several Italian classes with different levels of difficulties are organised during the academic year.

Contenuti
The Master programme stretches over two years (120 ECTS) and is structured to allow the students to personalise their study curricula according to their individual interests and educational backgrounds. It includes four semesters of lectures and seminars, and an internship. Typically, in the first semester students attend the foundation courses in order to acquire the basics of finance, accounting and statistics. The second and third semesters are dedicated to core courses and electives. The final thesis should show the candidate’s ability to integrate acquired knowledge in the advanced scientific analysis of a topic in banking and finance.

Sem. I Foundation Courses

• Probability I
• Applied Statistics or Advanced Statistics
• Accounting
• Capital Markets
• Corporate Finance

Sem. II Core Courses

• Private Banking
• Derivatives
• Financial Statement Analysis
• Financial Intermediation
• Introductory Corporate Governance
• Advanced Corporate Finance or Corporate Banking

Sem. III Electives

• Advanced Corporate Governance
• Financial engineering
• Financial Instruments
• Fixed Income
• Advanced Derivatives
• Global Investment Research
• Introduction to Institutions and Economics of Pensions and Aging
• Pension Economics and Finance
• Corporate Social Responsibility
• Probability II

Sem. IV

• Corporate Banking
• Restructuring Firms and Industries
• Structured Products
• Advanced Business Valuation
• Risk Management
• Financial Modelling
• Financial Econometrics
• The International Fiscal System
• The Law and Practice of International Capital Markets
• Banking Strategies
• Trading and Financial Markets
• Topics in Continous-Time Finance
• Internship (mandatory)
• Thesis
• Field Project (optional).

Note

Durata The academic year runs from September until June. Courses are held from September until December and from February until the end of May. The academic year also includes 3 exam sessions (January, June and September). Costo Tuition fees for the Master's degrees amount to CHF 4,000 per semester. Applicants whose official residence was in Switzerland (including Liechtenstein and Campione d'Italia) at the time of the final high school exam (Maturità) pay a reduced semester fee of CHF 2,000. Tuition fees are payable at the beginning of each term, by the deadline indicated on the invoice; fee payment is an essential condition for matriculating or renewing one's enrolment. Borse di studio e finanziamenti The Foundation for the Lugano Faculties of USI will award a total of 60 one-off study grants of the amount of 4'000 CHF each. The merit based grants are given to first year students admitted to a USI Master program starting in September. Other study grants are available. For more details, please, visit the following link: http://www.usi.ch/en/formazione-borse_studio.htm