A weekly lecture that will be offered as a non-live video stream. The lecture is taught by Prof. Dr. Erik Theissen (first half of the semester) and Prof. Dr. Oliver Spalt (second half of the semester). The online stream allows students to watch those videos at their own pace. Once online, those videos will remain available until the end of the semester.  

Together with the lecture we will offer online quizzes for every week. Those quizzes allow students to check their understanding of the topics right after the lecture with some basic questions. Those quizzes are not graded. They can be taken multiple times and will be online until the end of the semester.

The lecture is accompanied by an exercise. Every week, together with the lecture, we will upload a new exercise sheet. One week later, the solution to the exercise will be presented by a member of the FIN 301 team in a non-live video stream. Complementary to those videos, we offer 3 live zoom exercise sessions taught by teaching assistants. The dates of those exercise sessions are:

• Tuesdays, 12:00p.m. – 1:30p.m.
• Wednesday, 12:00p.m. – 1:30p.m.
• Thursdays, 10:15a.m. – 11:45a.m.

You can freely choose one of these sessions and switch between sessions. No registration is required. With regard to content these live sessions are identical to the video stream. But in those live sessions you will have the opportunity to get another, more interactive perspective on the contents of the respective week’s exercise. You could thus visit either the live session or watch the video or profit from a combination of both.

Prof. Theissen and/or Prof. Spalt offer a weekly Q&A Session lagging lectures by one week. This session will take place every Tuesday from 8:30 to 10:00 live and via Zoom. It shall offer an opportunity to ask all those questions that one would have asked in a live lecture. The gap of one week between lecture and Q&A should be used to watch the lecture video, to do the online quiz and to consolidate any remaining questions. Prof. Theissen and Prof. Spalt won’t convey any new content in these sessions but rather stand by to support you in your learning process. As we won’t prepare any content for these sessions, the success of those highly depends on students’ questions and input. Attendance of Q&A sessions is not mandatory.

The ILIAS forum is our main channel for communication. We will use it to share any relevant information concerning the course and the exam.

The course is taught in English. All materials and the exam will be in English.

Students will receive one final grade for this course. The final exam will make up 100% of the final grade. The exact date and format of the exam will be announced during the semester. Due to the current situation both, a live online open-book exam and a classical in-class closed-book exam, are possible. The examination time is 90 minutes. The exam may cover all materials discussed in the first and second part of the lecture, as well as during exercise sessions.

No prior registration is required to attend the lecture and exercise sessions. All relevant information will be shared in the introductory video, which will be uploaded in the first week of the semester. Registration for the exercise sessions is not required. 

The course will be based on the textbook:

• “Principles of Corporate Finance” by Richard A. Brealey, Stewart C. Myers and Franklin Allen (McGraw Hill).

We will cover chapters 1 to 13 (13th international edition). The book also contains practice questions and quizzes for self-study and a link to a website with further materials.

Lecture slides and problem sets will be published online on the course's ILIAS page. The site provides the course materials and the course forum.

All the communication takes place through ILIAS. All material from the lecture and the exercise sessions will be uploaded to ILIAS. The course does not require any separate registration. For registration to the ILIAS group, follow this link.