MSc Banking and Finance

The banking and finance sector has a direct influence on wider society as well as the global economy and is therefore subject to rigorous regulation. You will investigate the impact of regulation, how banks create value for stakeholders and how the banking and finance sector is responding to the Covid-19 pandemic and the impact of its health, social and economic fallout.

MSc Banking and Finance builds on your existing knowledge of finance, economics, or business to prepare you for a challenging and rewarding career in the banking sector.

You’ll explore bank efficiency, bank failures and crises, regulatory frameworks, and risk. You’ll investigate the challenges of modern banking and understand how innovation in financial technology has disrupted the sector.

MSc Banking and Finance covers contemporary banking and finance issues, such as:

• portfolio management
• modern banking methods
• bank strategy and risk
• regulation and the internationalisation process

This course is taught at Essex Business School at our Colchester Campus. Our students and staff join us from all over the world and our teaching is grounded in contemporary issues and professional practice.

Essex has one of the largest groups of finance academics in the UK, providing a wide range of courses in banking, finance, investment, risk management and financial econometrics. This means you’ll also be able to choose from a huge range of optional modules to tailor your course to your interests and aspirations.

Our aim is to give you the best foundation for a career in banking or elsewhere in the finance sector. We want to help you understand the theory and put it into practice.

Your future

MSc Banking and Finance provides you with the foundation for a rewarding career in banking and finance, equipping you with the skills to lead at a global level. 90% of University of Essex’s postgraduate graduates are in employment or further study (Graduate Outcomes 2021).

Many of our graduates enjoy roles in a host of occupations, including financial analysis, management, public administration, and accountancy. They work for high-profile organisations and innovative SMEs such as:

• National Bank of Kazakhstan
• KPMG
• Cerulli Associates, a research and consulting firm specialising in asset management
• European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD)
• Groupon
• Capital Markets Intelligence, a financial publisher
• Credit Data Research, a business funder
• PwC Deutschland

Our Student Support team work closely with the University’s Employability and Careers service to help you with careers information and advice and CV support. They will help you find work experience, internships, placements, and voluntary opportunities and provide access to employer talks on campus. We also work closely with the Essex Start-ups team to support our budding entrepreneurs get their business ideas off the ground.

A 2:2 degree, or international equivalent, in one of the following subjects (with no module requirements): Business / Commerce, Computer Science, Economics, Engineering, Mathematics, Natural Science, Data Analysis, Statistics or we will also consider applicants who hold a CFA Institute Programme Level One, Two or Three (pass or above).