COURSE INFORMATION Course Title: ALBANIAN BANKING SYSTEM AND CENTRAL BANKING

Code	Course Type	Regular Semester	Theory	Practice	Lab	Credits	ECTS
BAF 505	D	3	3	0	0	3	7.5

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:	Bledar Hoda , Tuesday 21.00 - 22.00
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:	Tuesday
Course Description:	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 sustainable development of the economy.

COURSE OUTLINE

Week	Topics
1	Introduction
2	Financial system Development and Economic Growth: Theoretical Background
3	Understanding Financial System in Albania: Balance Sheet of (Commercial) Banks
4	Understanding Financial System: Balance Sheet of Central Bank Liabilities
5	Understanding Financial System: Balance Sheet of Central Bank: Assets
6	Understanding Financial System: Balance Sheet of Central Bank: CHANGES in Bal.Sheet
7	Monetary Instruments of CB & Review
8	Mid-Term Exam
9	Banking Supervision: Basel I and II criteria
10	Banking Supervision: Basel I and II criteria
11	Understanding of Basel III criteria
12	Understanding of Basel III criteria
13	Understanding of Basel & Central Bank Independence
14	Summary of Basel framework

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:	Publications by other Central Banks
Laboratory Work:	-
Computer Usage:	-
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.
Master of Science in Economics Program
1	Students apply advanced knowledge in economics	5
2	Students explain the interaction between related disciplines and economics	4
3	Students apply scientific methods to address economic problems	3
4	Students define existing theory in a specialized branch of economics	5
5	Students critically evaluate knowledge in economics and carry out advanced research independently	4
6	Students develop economic models and formulate policy options	4
7	Students make an original contribution to the discipline	2
8	Students effectively communicate in a variety of professional and academic contexts	4
9	Students will develop new strategic approaches for unexpected, complicated situations in economics and take responsibility in solving them	3
10	Students uphold and defend ethical values data collection, interpretation and dissemination	4
11	Students use advanced empirical analyses to address social problems	2
12	Students interact with professional networks in their field of specialization	5

COURSE EVALUATION METHOD

Method	Quantity	Percentage
Midterm Exam(s)	1	10
Presentation	1	10
Project	1	20
Final Exam	1	50
Attendance		10
	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			0
Final examination	1	15	15
Other	5	5	25
Total Work Load:			150
Total Work Load/25(h):			6
ECTS Credit of the Course:			7.5