1 P a g e A s .docx

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A s s e s s m e n t
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f o r
S t u d e n t s
UWBS038g Assessment Briefing for Students
Assessment brief number (and title where applicable):
Module leader: Seng Kiong, Kok email address:
[email protected]
Academic Year: 2013 / 14
PGB1
Module assessment detail (approved at validation as amended
by module modification)

Module code & title 7FC002 International Finance
Module Learning outcomes: Tick (√)
if tested
here
LO1 Critical
evaluation
of
International
Financial
Markets
LO2 Critical
evaluation
and
application
of
International
Financial
LO3 Critical
evaluation
and
application
of
International
Financial
LO4
Assessment types Weightings
(%)

Group Report and Oral Presentation 30
Assessment type, weighting and LOs tested by this assessment
indicated in the shaded area above by a √
Important requirements
Mode of Working: Individual
Presentation Format: Report
Method of Submission: Paper Submission to MX student
Office
Mark required to pass this coursework: 50%/
(Complete following detail)
Hand in date & time Monday 13th January 2014 @ 16:00
Date & method by which you
will receive feedback
Via WOLF and E-Vision
Resit/retrieval date PG Block 3
Assessment limits (in accordance
with UWBS assessment tariff)
No more than: 3000 words, excluding appendices
Do clearly state your student number when submitting work but
do not indicate your name.
Always
keep
a
copy

of
your
work.
Always keep a file of working papers (containing, for instance,
working notes, copied journal article
and early drafts of your work, etc.) that show the development
of your work and the sources you have
used. You may need to show this to tutor at some point so notes
should be clear and written in
English. This is an important requirement. There may be
circumstances where it is difficult to arrive
at a mark for your work. If this is so you may be asked to
submit your file within 3 working days and
possibly meet with your tutor to answer questions on your
submission.
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Explanation of submission requirements and further guidance
• Assessments are subject to a word limit to ensure consistency
of approach across all
modules. Your work should not exceed the limit indicated
(excluding references and
appendices). Do not feel that you have to “achieve” this word
count in your work. What is
important is that the work satisfies the stated learning outcomes
which are articulated through
the assessment criteria (see following page).
• Care is taken to ensure that work has been marked correctly.
Checks are conducted by both
a second lecturer and an independent expert from outside the
University on batches of work.
• Your work will not be returned to you but you will receive
detailed feedback explaining how
your mark has been arrived at and how your work could have
been improved upon.
• Always use the Harvard style referencing system. The
University’s Learning Information
Services have produced a series of guides covering a range of
topics to support your studies
and develop your academic skills including a guide to Harvard
referencing
http://www.wlv.ac.uk/lib/skills_for_learning/study_guides.aspx
• Expensive or elaborate bindings and covers for submissions

are not required in most
instances. (Refer to guidelines however in the case of
dissertations).
• The Business School has a policy of anonymous marking of
individual assessments which
applies to most modules. You should not identify yourself
directly in the work you submit and
you may need to use phrases such as “the author of this
assignment ….”in the detail of your
submission.
Avoid academic misconduct
Warning: Collusion, plagiarism and cheating are very serious
offences that can result in a
student being expelled from the University. The Business
School has a policy of actively
identifying students who engage in academic misconduct of this
nature and routinely applying
detection techniques including the use of sophisticated software
packages.
• Avoid Collusion. The Business School encourages group
working, however to avoid
collusion always work on your own when completing individual
assessments. Do not let
fellow students have access to your work at any stage and do
not be tempted to access the
work of others. Refer to your module tutor if you do not
understand or you need further
guidance.
• Avoid Plagiarism. You must use available and relevant
literature to demonstrate your
knowledge of a subject, however to avoid plagiarism you must

take great care to
acknowledge it properly. Plagiarism is the act of stealing
someone else's work and passing it
off as your own. This includes incorporating either unattributed
direct quotation(s) or
substantial paraphrasing from the work of another/others. For
this reason it is important that
you cite all the sources whose work you have drawn on and
reference them fully in
accordance with the Harvard referencing standard. (This
includes citing any work that you
may have submitted yourself previously). Extensive direct
quotations in assessed work is ill
advised because it represents a poor writing style, and it could
lead to omission errors and a
plagiarism offence could be committed accidentally.
• Avoid the temptation to “commission” work or to cheat in
other ways. There are
temptations on the internet for you to take “short cuts”. Do not
be tempted to either
commission work to be completed on your behalf or search for
completed past academic
work.
When you submit your work you will be required to sign an
important declaration that the
submission is your own work, any material you have used has
been acknowledged and referenced,
you have not allowed another student to have access to your
work, the work has not been submitted
previously, etc.

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Assessment Brief/ Task
The detailed requirements for this task are as follows:
You
will
be
given
a
notional
$250,000
which
is
to
be
used

to
trade
on
the
FOREX
futures
market.
The
objective
of
the
assignment
is
so
that
you
gain
an
understanding
of
what
factors
make
the
currency
markets
move
and
also
what
is
a
significant
movement

in
terms
of
profit
and
loss.
You
are
restricted
to
the
following
markets
and
you
should
select
just
ONE
currency
to
trade:-‐
Futures
traded
on
the
IMM:

• Euro/US$
• British
Pound/US$
• Japanese
Yen/US$
You
are
also
restricted
to
TEN
trades
in
total
(5
open
and
5
closing).
This
is
a
maximum,
not
a
minimum.

When
you
change
“direction”
or
increase
the
size
of
a
position
you
must
close
the
existing
trades
first.
This
is
to
enable
it
to
be
easier
to
verify
the
accuracy
of
your
trades.

You
should
only
trade
the
December
2013
contracts.
You
may
begin
trading
at
any
time.
All
trading
must
finish
on
or
before
Monday
16th
December
2013
and
you
must
trade
for
a
minimum
period

of
10
working
days
(defined
as
“marking
to
market”
on
10
occasions,
i.e.
having
10
settlement
prices).
Your
written
work
must
then
be
submitted
(to
the
school
office
in
MX
Building)
by
Monday
13th

January
2013.
Please
refer
to
‘What
should
be
included
in
the
report?’
for
more
information
on
how
to
structure
your
work.
You
are
advised
to
spend
some
time
researching
the
assignment
and
perhaps

"paper
trade"
for
a
short
time
before
embarking
on
your
actual
trades.
If
you
haven't
begun
trading
by
Friday
the
30th
of
November
then
you
will
be
deemed
to
have
failed
the
assignment
as

you
will
then
have
insufficient
time
to
undertake
10
days
of
trading.
You
can
however
begin
trading
at
any
time
as
long
as
you
complete
trading
by
Monday
16th
December
2013

and
trade
for
a
period
of
ten
working
days.
Note
that
the
last
day
of
trading
for
the
December
2013
contracts
is
Monday
23rd
December.
After
this
date
there
is
no
trading
and
therefore
no

prices
available.
Hence
it
is
vitally
important
that
you
commence
trading
as
soon
as
possible.
The
details
of
each
trade
must
be
entered
on-‐line
at:
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1CN_NDyG0wZDPYJtmeNJ_G
mWTWW8agEwOg_Q01Y0wmOY/viewform

Note:
This
link
will
also
be
available
on
your
WOLF
topic
for
7FC002
International
Finance
You
will
be
required
to
provide
the
following
information
when
completing
the
trade
form:

1) Student
Number
2) Type
of
Trade
(Opening
or
Closing)
3) Direction
of
Trade
(Long
or
Short)
4) Currency
Pairing
5) Number
of
Contracts
6) Current
Price
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Live
futures
prices
are
also
available
on-‐line
at
the
CME
(www.cmegroup.com).
You
should
trade
on
the
GLOBEX

prices.
GLOBEX
is
an
electronic
platform
and
so
the
price
is
constantly
changing
although
the
most
active
trading
period
is
during
office
hours
Chicago
time
(http://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/city.html?n=64)
which
is
6
hours
behind
GMT.
At
around

about
11pm
(GMT)
the
prices
will
disappear
for
around
15
minutes
whilst
a
settlement
(Sett)
price
is
recorded.
This
is
the
price
used
to
undertake
the
“marking
to
market”
each
day.
The table below shows how the prices are quoted on the CME

website. You trade at the last but your marking
to market takes place at the Sett.
The Sett. here refers to the Settlement Price recorded on the last
trading day (here that was 4th January
2011).
You should also construct a spreadsheet to keep track of the
dollar value of your portfolio daily throughout the
trading period. A printed copy of this spreadsheet should be
incorporated with your written work. You should
end up with a time series of dollar values of the portfolio over
the trading period. You must also show the
following:-
• The percentage rate of return over the trading period.
• The average daily percentage change in the value of your
portfolio
• The standard deviation of the daily percentage changes.
• Information (Sharpe) ratio
Other rules include:-
• Round turn commission on futures is $25 per contract.
• Margin requirements on futures contracts are as follows
(initial/maintenance):-
Yen ($3465/$3150)
Pound ($1650/$1500)
Euro ($2475/$2250)
source: cmegroup.com, 10/07/2013

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• If you find that you have insufficient dollars to meet margin
payments then you must close a futures
position.
• No borrowing is allowed.
• To minimise computation cash may not be invested overnight
in the money markets or invested in
any other securities that earn a rate of return.
• Before you submit your work you MUST close out all of your
futures positions. You will be penalised
for fabricating trades to minimise losses and/or amplify profits.
• The face value of the $/Yen future is Yen 12,500,000.
• The face value of the $/£ future is £62,500.
• The face value of the $/EURO future is EURO 125,000

What
should
be
included
in
the
report?
Students
should
essentially
include
the
reasoning
behind
each
of
the
trades
and
as
this
coursework
is
a
little
different
from
others
you
may
be

confused
as
to
how
to
structure
it.
The
advice
is
to
structure
it
like
an
events
study,
linking
trade
reasoning
and
evaluation
to
the
information
that
was
considered
prior
to
trading.
These
strategies
could

take
the
form
of
new
reports
or
fundamental
and
technical
analysis
of
the
respective
currency
parings.
Students
will
also
be
required
to
benchmark
and
critically
evaluate
the
performance
of
their
portfolio.
This

should
appear
in
the
report
under
the
heading
of
‘Evaluation
of
Portfolio
Performance’.
Enter
into
the
spirit
of
the
coursework.
The
list
of
trades
that
your
calculations
are
based
on
should
tally
with

the
trades
you
entered.
If
you
realised
after
the
event
that
you
made
a
mistake
then
own
up
to
it,
accept
a
mark
deduction
and
list
it
as
an
error.
Note
that
all
your

trades
will
be
recorded
online
so
please
refrain
from
fabricating/changing
trades.
Please
be
honest!
Students
will
have
to
include
the
following
tables:
Record
of
Trades

Date
&
Time
Trade
Currency
Contracts
Maturity
Price
Errors:
1.
2.
3.
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4.
At
some
point
in
the
work
you
are
going
to
have
to
reveal
your
overall
result
which
I

would
like
presented
as
follows:
Date
Total
%
return
Total
Gross
Profit
in
dollars
after
trading:
Total
Net
Profit
in
dollars
after

trading:
Percentage
return
(2
decimal
places):
Standard
deviation
of
returns
(2
decimal
places):
Information
Ratio
(2
decimal
places):
The
“Total”
figure
here
refers

to
the
total
value
of
your
portfolio
when
the
positions
are
valued
at
the
end
of
each
day
in
the
marking
to
market
process
plus
any
cash
that
you
have.
You
only
have
one

“Total”
figure
for
each
day.
Everything
should
tally.
The
“Profit/Loss”
referred
to
above
should
be
verifiable
by
me
from
the
list
of
trades
you
entered.
The
“Total
Gross
Profit”
figure
that
you
quote

should
then
be
the
sum
of
all
the
individual
profits
for
each
trade.
The
“Total
Net
Profit”
should
be
the
“Total
Gross
Profit”
minus
total
commission
paid.
Embed
all
tables

into
the
text.
Even
if
this
means
using
scissors
and
glue!
For
the
more
technically
adept
use
copy
and
paste
or
for
charts/images
from
webpages
you
can
use
screen
capture
function.
The following information is important when:

• Preparing for your assessment
• Checking your work before you submit it
• Interpreting feedback on your work after marking.
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Assessment Criteria
The module learning outcomes tested by this assessment task
are indicated on page 1. The precise
criteria against which your work will be marked is as follows:

• Content and theory
• Secondary research
• Critical analysis
• Academic writing
• Presentation and referencing
Performance descriptors
Performance descriptors indicate how marks will be arrived at
against each of the above criteria. The
descriptors indicate the likely characteristics of work that is
marked within the percentage bands indicated.
90-100% Outstanding understanding, analysis and application of
international finance theories and
concepts. Outstanding evaluation and synthesis of theory and
evidence. Outstanding argument
comprehensively supported by the evidence. Exceptional
conclusion and recommendation
thoroughly supported by the evidence provided. Exceptionally
structured and written piece of
work fully referenced using the Harvard System.
80-89% Excellent understanding, analysis and application of
concepts. Excellent evaluation and synthesis of theory and
evidence. Excellent argument fully
supported by the evidence. Excellent conclusion and
recommendation fully supported by the
evidence provided. Excellently structured and written piece of
work fully referenced using the

Harvard System.
70-79% Very good understanding, analysis and application of
concepts. Very good evaluation and synthesis of theory and
evidence. Very good, sound
argument largely supported by the evidence. Very good
conclusion and recommendation
largely supported by the evidence provided. Very well
structured and written piece of work fully
referenced using the Harvard System.
60-69% Good understanding, analysis and application of
international finance theories and concepts.
Good evaluation and synthesis of theory and evidence. Good
argument generally supported by
evidence. Good conclusion and recommendation largely
supported by the evidence provided.
Well-structured and written piece of work fully referenced
using the Harvard System.
50-59% Competent understanding, analysis and application of
concepts. Competent evaluation and synthesis of theory and
evidence. Competent argument
reasonably supported by evidence. Competent conclusion and
recommendation variably
supported by the evidence provided. Competently structured and
written piece of work fully
referenced using the Harvard System.
40-49% Basic understanding, analysis and application of
Basic evaluation and synthesis of theory and evidence. Basic
argument with limited supporting
evidence. Basic conclusion and recommendation with limited

supporting evidence provided.
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Basically structured and written piece of work fully referenced
using the Harvard System.
30-39% Weak/superficial understanding, analysis and
application of international finance theories and
concepts. Weak evaluation and synthesis of theory and
evidence. Weak argument insufficiently
supported by evidence. Weak conclusion and recommendation
with little support from the
evidence provided. Weakly structured and written piece of work
poorly referenced using the
Harvard System.

20-29% Poor understanding, analysis and application of
Poor evaluation and synthesis of theory and evidence. Poor
argument not supported by the
provision of evidence. Poor conclusion and recommendation
with no support from the evidence
provided. Poorly structured and written piece of work poorly
referenced using the Harvard
System.
10-19% Little to no attempt to engage with the assignment brief
0-9% No real attempt to address the assignment brief
To help you further:
• Refer to the WOLF topic for contact details of your module
leader/tutor, tutorial inputs,
recommended reading and other sources, etc. Resit details will
also appear on WOLF.
• The University’s Learning Information Services offer support
and guidance to help you with
your studies and develop your academic skills
http://www.wlv.ac.uk/lib/skills_for_learning/study_guides.aspx
Recommended Reading
Fama, E.F.(1970) "Efficient Capital Markets: A Review of
Theory and Empirical Work.",
Journal of Finance, vol. 25, pp. 383-417.
Harvey, C. R. and Huang, R. D. (1991) Volatility in the Foreign
Currency Futures Market,
The Review of Financial Studies, Vol. 4, No. 3, pp. 543 – 569

Jensen, M. C., Black, F. and Scholes, M. (1972) ‘‘The capital
asset pricing model: some
empirical tests,’’ in studies in the theory of capital markets.
Michael C. Jensen, Ed. New
York: Praeger, pp. 79–121
Laws and Thompson (2007) “Portfolio diversification and
commodity futures” LJMU CIBEF
Working papers, May 2007
Madura, J and Fox, R. (2011) International Financial
Management, 2nd Ed, Cengage
Learning, U.K.
Markowitz, H, M. (1991) Foundations of portfolio theory, The
Journal of Finance, 46(2), 469-
477
Pilbeam, K. (2013) International Finance, 4th Ed, Palgrave
Macmillian, U.K.

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