AFN 515: Basic Accounting (2 ECTS)
The scope of the course is to help in the understanding of the use of accounting in a business environment. It covers topics on the accounting cycle of the enterprise, preparation and presentation of the three basic financial statements. It is graded with Pass/Fail.

AFN 516: Use of Software in Finance (3 ECTS)
Data bases and software packages useful to the financial manager/analyst of a private or public enterprise/organization are introduced. The course is directed towards new master students. It covers databases (like Compustat/GlobalVantage, Datastream, CRSP, IDES), and software (like Matlab). It is graded with Pass/Fail.

AFN 517: Applied Credit Risk Assessment (3 ECTS)
The purpose of this course is to give students a solid background in identification, and assessment of credit risk for financial institutions. Topics include credit scoring methodologies (e.g. for individuals, private companies, etc.), and prevailing credit risk models compatible with prevailing regulatory requirements. Students use designated statistical software (e.g. SAS).

AFN 520: Managerial Economics (6 ECTS)
The course covers a wide variety of topics to facilitate understanding of the wider economic environment of the corporation, from the perspective of the Neoclassical Economic Theory, the Theory of the Firm, and Industrial Organization. Topics include the Utility Theory, Indifference Curves, Income and Substitution Effects, Demand Functions and Price Elasticity of Demand, Cross Elasticity and Income Elasticity, Production Functions and Cost Functions, Returns to Scale and Returns to Scope, General Equilibrium, Pareto Efficiency, basic principles of Industrial Organization, elements of Game Theory, Trigger Pricing strategies, etc.

AFN 521: Financial Theory (7 ECTS)
The course presents the theory of financial decisions and corporate policy. It covers discounted cash flow and contemporary methods of capital budgeting, risk and uncertainty, mean-variance portfolio choice, capital asset pricing models and arbitrage pricing theory, efficient markets, capital structure and dividend policy, basic option pricing, corporate restructuring and mergers and acquisitions.

AFN 522: Investments (7 ECTS)
The course covers the basic principles of investment analysis and valuation, with emphasis on security analysis and portfolio management in a risk-return framework. Security analysis focuses on whether an individual security is correctly valued in the market (i.e., it is the search for mispriced securities). Portfolio management deals with efficiently combining securities into a portfolio tailored to the investor’s preferences and monitoring/evaluating the portfolio. The course covers both the theory and practical aspects of investments.

AFN 523: Advanced Quantitative Business Methods (6 ECTS)
The course introduces business students to various statistical topics useful in Business, such as Linear Regression, Probit and Logit, Discriminant analysis, Factor analysis, and Structural Equation modeling. In addition to the theoretical coverage of these topics, students practice with practical applications in business (Finance, Accounting, Management Science, etc.) and use software like SPSS and SAS. During the course students are required to complete a final project, in which they perform a statistical analysis with real data.

AFN 524: Financial Modeling (6 ECTS)
The course covers financial models for Hedging and Risk Management, Asset Allocation, Multi-period Portfolio Planning, Option Pricing, Swaps, and Bonds and Mortgage-backed Securities. Emphasis is on the use of Statistics, Optimization, and Simulation for the solution of Financial Planning problems, with wide implementation of spreadsheets and high-level modeling languages (like GAMS), and spreadsheets.

AFN 525: Options and Futures (7 ECTS)
The course studies the pricing and use of derivatives such as options and futures contracts. The no-arbitrage principle and its use in pricing futures contracts and option restrictions is first developed, followed by the binomial-tree approach and the Black-Scholes model. Various extensions and applications are provided, including (1) pricing options on stock indices, currencies and futures; (2) risk management; (3) pricing options embedded in corporate securities (e.g., equity, callable bonds, warrants and convertibles; (4) fixed-income (interest-rate) derivatives.

AFN 526/626: Financial Analysis and Capital Market Research (7 ECTS)
The course provides a comprehensive analysis of financial information as an aid to decision making (e.g., in investing, lending and managerial decisions). The course covers (1) business analysis tools such as business strategy analysis, accounting and financial analysis, prospective analysis (forecasting and valuation); (2) applications in credit analysis and bankruptcy prediction, security analysis, corporate financing decisions, such as dividend policy, capital structure, M&A and management communication; (3) international financial analysis and contemporary issues in financial analysis.

AFN 527/627: Theory and Methodology in Finance and Accounting (6 ECTS)
The course covers contemporary methodologies for empirical research in Finance and Accounting. Through the study and analysis of contemporary research, it highlights the role of financial and other information in setting equity prices. In addition, it covers topics such as: the role of Financial Analysts in Equity Markets, the relation between Accounting Rules and Equity Markets, the effect of Income Manipulation on Investors and Managers, and the Measurement of Risk.

AFN 528: Advanced Methods of Capital Budgeting (6 ECTS)
The course reviews traditional methods of capital budgeting and their deficiencies and introduces modern investment valuation thinking and tools involving flexibility and optimal exercise of options under uncertainty. It places emphasis on the use of the real options methodology in both operating and strategic decisions, applied through the use of binomial trees and Monte Carlo simulation in the context of real-life problems and cases.

AFN 529: Applications of Neural Networks to Business (6 ECTS)
This course covers a broad treatment of the subject of Artificial Neural Networks. The material includes: Introduction to neural networks, the Backpropagation training algorithm and its variants, the RBF training algorithm, probabilistic neural networks, Kohonen’s SOFM, LVQ’s training algorithms, support vector machines. The wide applicability of the material developed in this course is demonstrated through applications to a number of problems drawn from various business areas. Students practice the theory through a research project in Finance or Accounting.

AFN 530: Seminar on the Economy, the Banking System, and the Financial Markets of Cyprus (6 ECTS)
In the seminar a wide range of topics relating to the Economy, the Banking System, and the Financial Markets of Cyprus are analyzed from the perspective of two significant events currently under development: the Globalization of Economies and International Markets, and the accession of Cyprus into the European Union. These developments prescribe the prospects and challenges of the economy and the financial system of Cyprus.

AFN 532: Financial Optimization and Decision Analysis (6 ECTS)
The course covers topics of Mathematical Programming and Financial Optimization and Decision Theory that constitute basic research tools in Finance and Economics. From the perspective of theory and model building, it covers Linear Programming, Duality Theory, Unconstrained and Constrained Non-linear Programming, Stochastic Programming, and Large-scale Programming. Special emphasis is given to the solution of problems with the use of computers.

AFN 533: Bank Financial Management (6 ECTS)
The continuously changing environment – increased competition, liberalization, globalization of markets, new capital market products – demands that banks revise their traditional financial management. The course presents financial principles, strategies, and techniques that help banks succeed in this financial environment. After the study of the existing banking environment, bank structure and problems the course concentrates on the measurement and management of interest rate, credit, and currency risks. The course also studies the measurement and evaluation of bank performance, basic instruments and techniques, asset/liability management, new financial strategies, and integrated decisions for bank management.

AFN534: Financial Risk Management (6 ECTS)
The aim of this course is to illustrate the use of financial theory and applied statistics in measuring and managing risks that multinational corporations and financial institutions are currently facing. It will discuss: Basel I & II, volatility and valueat- risk, coherent risk measures; simulation of Profit & Loss distributions using Gaussian assumption for equity portfolios and bonds, market risk capital adequacy, linear and non-linear risks; time-varying volatility of market-risk factors, EWMA and GARCH process; extreme financial risks with non-Gaussian distributions, extreme value models; credit risk and rating systems; probability of default, recovery rates, credit risk capital adequacy; methods of Credit Metrics (JP Morgan), distance to default – KMV (Moody’s), actuarial approach (Credit Suisse First Boston); types of operational risk, measurements using Loss Distribution Approach, capital adequacy; mitigating and managing financial risks, capital for unexpected losses, risk transfer/hedging.

AFN 535: Seminar on Derivatives (6 ECTS)
The course covers advanced topics in financial theory with emphasis in the contemporary theories of contingent claims pricing, continuous time finance, alternative stochastic processes (geometric Brownian motion, Poisson processes and jump-diffusion, stochastic volatility, stochastic interest rates); numerical methods for option pricing problems with high dimensionality, alternative stochastic process assumptions, and path-dependencies; pricing options on foreign assets with currency risk, Guaranteed Investment Contracts with embedded options; option replication without and with transaction costs.

AFN 537: Theoretical Topics in Finance (6 ECTS)
The course covers advanced theoretical topics in financial theory. Contents may differ according to the instructor.

AFN 538: Applied Topics in Finance (6 ECTS)
The course covers special and applied topics in finance. Contents may differ according to the instructor.

AFN 539: Insurance Risk Management (6 ECTS)
This course introduces students to some of the more technical aspects of insurance and how it is used as a fundamental risk mitigation tool for both individuals and businesses. Topics include an overview of different types of insurance and their use, an introduction to the theory of interest, present value of random variables for contingent annuities and insurance, their distributions and the principles underlying the determination of insurance fair values. The advantages and disadvantages of private and social insurance programs will be discussed along with their place in today’s economies. References to the Basel II (Banks) and Solvency II (Insurance Companies) regulatory frameworks as well as rating agencies capital adequacy models will give the class a pragmatic approach to modern practices exercised by risk management professionals. The class provides a good foundation for students who also want to pursue professional credentials from International Risk Professional Associations (U.S.A. and U.K.) or an advanced degree in Risk Management and Insurance. The material to be covered by this course overlaps with some of the education requirements of SOA (Society of Actuaries, USA) and the Institute of Actuaries (UK).

AFN 541-6: Advanced Topics (3 ECTS)
This course introduces graduate students to contemporary/advanced research topics. It involves in depth analysis, and attendance and active participation in presentations of original research by visiting researchers and presentations of critique and analysis of selected research. It is graded with Pass/Fail.

AFN 661: Advanced Corporate Finance (7 ECTS)
The aim of the course is to give insights into important topics of corporate finance, overview theories and models and understand issues of asymmetric information, adverse selection, moral hazard and agency problems in the study of optimal capital structure, payout policy and stock repurchases, financial contracting and capital restructuring.

AFN 662: Advanced Asset Pricing (7 ECTS)
The aim of the course is to provide knowledge into choice under uncertainty, discount factors and absence of arbitrage, and overview theories and models of contemporary equilibrium asset pricing, factor pricing and intertemporal decisions from the perspective of both discrete and continuous time.

AFN 663: Advanced Methods in Empirical Finance (7 ECTS
The aim of the course is to provide understanding of the empirical techniques used most often in the analysis of financial markets and in empirical corporate finance with focus in the study of the statistical properties of asset returns and the efficient markets hypotheses, empirical tests of asset pricing models (CAPM, APT), tests of conditional asset pricing models, event studies and market microstructure econometrics.