Objectives

Untangling finance

Our goal is simple: to demonstrate the role of finance in the real world, in simple terms. In other words, to untangle what is often perceived a complex subject.

After six weeks, you will have a better understanding of the broad spectrum of financing, and the terminology and theory that underlines this.

Concretely, you will learn how companies finance themselves using banks and capital markets. We will look at the role of syndication, and how it links issuers looking to raise capital to grow their businesses with investors looking to manage their liabilities. The role of banks in wider society will also be explored, from helping airlines to lease aircraft to transport people, to financing roads and bridges that help promote transport and trade, to funding renewable sources energy such as wind or solar farms, right through to explaining the role of export finance, and the pivotal role exporting countries governments’ play, in promoting the movement of goods worldwide.

We will showcase the lifecycle of commodities, from exploration, to processing and refining, to how banks facilitate the global trade of products ranging from oil and gas, to agriculture products, to everyday items such as fruits or beans.

We will also look at the exciting world of acquisition finance and leverage buy-outs, enabling strategic moves for our key clients, as well as securitization, the repackaging of debt, and hedging, especially important as a mean to protect corporate companies against rate or price fluctuations.

Looking beyond just the theory, our objective is to show that finance is completely intertwined with the real economy.

The program

In the introductory session, Professor A Lioui, Head of Finance Faculty of EDHEC, will explain the basic concepts of finance, and these will be illustrated with real life cases thanks to 18 experts from Societe Generale’s Global Finance division. Each week thereafter will focus on the following areas:

Each session will be followed by a short quiz to ensure you have a good understanding of the subject in question. Throughout the 6 week course, you will also have the opportunity to reach out to other participants, as well as Professor Lioui, via a dedicated forum.

Finally, following the final week, ahead of a final quiz, Professor Lioui will provide an online Master Class open to all participants in order to wrap up the overall content, and answer any outstanding questions you may have.

On completion of the course, all participants who pass the quiz will receive a joint certificate* of completion, co-signed by EDHEC Business School and Societe Generale.

Developing this MOOC has already been an exciting journey for us, further strengthening the EDHEC-Societe Generale partnership in promoting education, and we sincerely hope this innovative approach to better understanding finance, and its many roles in the real world, will serve you well.

Best regards,

* Acquired competencies: basics in Syndication, Asset Finance, Project Finance, Strategic Acquisition Finance and Leverage Buy-outs, Debt Capital Markets, Hedging.

Pierre Palmieri

Head of Global Finance
Société Générale Corporate & Investment Banking

Anne Zuccarelli

Associate Dean, Corporate Development & Careers
EDHEC Business School

Caroline Guillaumin

Group Head of Human Resources & Communication
Société Générale