COURSE INFORMATION Course Title: ALBANIAN BANKING SYSTEM AND CENTRAL BANKING

Code	Course Type	Regular Semester	Theory	Practice	Lab	Credits	ECTS
BAF 505	B	3	3	0	0	3	6

Academic staff member responsible for the design of the course syllabus (name, surname, academic title/scientific degree, email address and signature)	NA
Lecturer (name, surname, academic title/scientific degree, email address and signature) and Office Hours:	Juliana Imeraj
Second Lecturer(s) (name, surname, academic title/scientific degree, email address and signature) and Office Hours:	NA
Teaching Assistant(s) and Office Hours:	NA
Language:	English
Compulsory/Elective:	Elective
Classroom and Meeting Time:	N/A
Course Description:	BAF 505- Albanian Banking System and Central Banking: The course starts with describing the role of the financial system in a market economy, discussing the main types of institutions, markets, players, products and the legal framework of Albanian financial system. It delves into the specific role of Central Bank in Albania, focusing on its independence, monetary policy and supervision cores. In-depth analysis is further provided on the main drivers and key challenges encountered along the way by the Albanian commercial banks, emphasizing the current regulation, technological and product innovations as well as bank-customer relationship. Finally, the implications of the recent global financial crisis in Albania’s banking sector are highlighted in the last session. The course will use several real-life case studies drawn up from the Albanian experience to provide particular insights on currents issues and illustrate the weekly topics, in the form of lessons from experience.
Course Objectives:	The course aims to provide students with the fundamentals of banking in Albania and equip them with necessary theoretical and practical competencies to enable them perform effectively a job as bankers in a commercial or central bank setting. The students should be able to understand the importance of maintaining financial stability for sustained development of the economy.

COURSE OUTLINE

Week	Topics
1	ALBANIAN BANKING SYSTEM BRIEF HISTORY
2	ALBANIAN BANKING SYSTEM BRIEF HISTORY; Pyramid Schemes IF YOU LOOSE THE PUBLIC CONFIDENCE
3	Pyramid Schemes IF YOU LOOSE THE PUBLIC CONFIDENCE
4	BANKING ACTIVITY IN ALBANIA
5	BANKING ACTIVITY IN ALBANIA
6	Banking Supervision
7	Banking Supervision
8	Midterm Exam
9	CENTRAL BANK INDEPENDENCE;
10	CENTRAL BANK INDEPENDENCE; BANKING SAFETY NET - Deposit Insurance Agency in the Banking System
11	BANKING SAFETY NET - Deposit Insurance Agency in the Banking System
12	CONSUMER PROTECTION - Establishing a “Banking Ombudsman” in Albania
13	CONSUMER PROTECTION - Establishing a “Banking Ombudsman” in Albania / Has the Banking Association Contributed to Financial System Development?
14	Has the Banking Association Contributed to Financial System Development?

Prerequisite(s):
Textbook:	Written lectures, slides in Power Point format and other handouts distributed at the end of each session, as well as all mandatory literature in the form of articles, Bank of Albania’s annual/quarter publications, reports, conference materials, etc.
Other References:	Case Studies 1. Pyramid schemes in Albania: Causes and implications 2. Deposit leakage (hemorrhage) in Albania and its management by Bank of Albania. The advent of Deposit Insurance Agency in Albania. 3. Bank of Albania’s campaigns on cash reduction 4. Independence of Central Bank (BoA’s case) 5. Implications of the recent financial crisis in Albania’s economy and financial system.
Laboratory Work:	N/A
Computer Usage:	N/A
Others:	No

COURSE LEARNING OUTCOMES

1	Learning about the types of institutions, markets, players, products and the legal framework of the Albanian financial system.
2	Understanding the importance of maintaining financial stability for sustained development of the economy
3	Getting to know the role and importance of Central Bank, its monetary policy and the main instruments adopted by Bank of Albania
4	Introducing students to the philosophy and principles of effective banking supervision so that to pave the way for the need of an effective infrastructure for banking supervision in respect of the legal and regulatory environment
5	Gaining exposure to the areas of high risk in bank operations and the application of riskbased approach from BoA’s supervisors to identify emerging problems.

COURSE CONTRIBUTION TO... PROGRAM COMPETENCIES (Blank : no contribution, 1: least contribution ... 5: highest contribution)

No	Program Competencies	Cont.
Professional Master in Banking and Finance Program

COURSE EVALUATION METHOD

Method	Quantity	Percentage
Midterm Exam(s)	1	30
Term Paper	1	20
Final Exam	1	50
	Total Percent:	100%

ECTS (ALLOCATED BASED ON STUDENT WORKLOAD)

Activities	Quantity	Duration(Hours)	Total Workload(Hours)
Course Duration (Including the exam week: 16x Total course hours)	16	3	48
Hours for off-the-classroom study (Pre-study, practice)	16	3	48
Mid-terms	1	14	14
Assignments
Final examination	1	15	15
Other	5	5	25
Total Work Load:			150
Total Work Load/25(h):			6
ECTS Credit of the Course:			6