BFC2140

Corporate finance

Unit Guide
Semester 1, 2014

Copyright Monash University 2014. All rights reserved. Except as provided in the Copyright Act 1968,
this work may not be reproduced in any form without the written permission of the host Faculty and
School/Department.
The information contained in this unit guide is correct at time of publication. The University has the right
to change any of the elements contained in this document at any time.
Last updated: 13 Feb 2014

Table of Contents
BFC2140 Corporate finance - Semester 1, 2014.....................................................................................1
Mode of Delivery..............................................................................................................................1
Workload requirements....................................................................................................................1
Additional workload requirements........................................................................................1
Unit Relationships........................................................................................................................................1
Prohibitions......................................................................................................................................1
Chief Examiner(s)........................................................................................................................................1
Campus Lecturer(s).....................................................................................................................................1
Clayton.............................................................................................................................................1
Malaysia...........................................................................................................................................2
Your feedback to Us....................................................................................................................................2
Previous Student Evaluations of this Unit....................................................................................................2
Academic Overview...................................................................................................................................3
Learning Outcomes.........................................................................................................................3
Unit Schedule.............................................................................................................................................4
Teaching Approach..........................................................................................................................4
Assessment Summary.....................................................................................................................5
Hurdle Requirements...........................................................................................................5
Second marking...................................................................................................................6
Return of final marks............................................................................................................6
Exam viewing.......................................................................................................................6
Assessment criteria..............................................................................................................6
Assessment Requirements......................................................................................................................7
Assessment Tasks...........................................................................................................................7
Assessment task 1...............................................................................................................7
Assessment task 2...............................................................................................................8
Examination(s).............................................................................................................................................8
Examination 1..................................................................................................................................8
Learning resources......................................................................................................................................9
Feedback to you..........................................................................................................................................9
Assignment submission...............................................................................................................................9
Online submission...........................................................................................................................9
Required Resources....................................................................................................................................9
Prescribed text(s) and readings.......................................................................................................9
Technological Requirements.....................................................................................................................10
Other Information....................................................................................................................................11
Policies..........................................................................................................................................11
Graduate Attributes Policy.................................................................................................11
Student Charter.........................................................................................................................................11
Student services........................................................................................................................................11
Monash University Library.........................................................................................................................11
Moodle 2....................................................................................................................................................11
Disability Liaison Unit................................................................................................................................12

BFC2140 Corporate finance - Semester 1, 2014

The impact of financing and investment decisions on business enterprises, with particular focus on public
companies. Topics include the goals of the firm and investors, investment evaluation models, valuation
of equity and debt instruments, fixed interest securities, sources and types of available finance, issues in
risk and return, portfolio theory, asset pricing models, issues in capital structure and dividend policy, and
the efficiency of capital markets.

Mode of Delivery
Clayton (Day)
Malaysia (Day)

Workload requirements
3 hours per week

Additional workload requirements

This is a six credit point unit with three hours class contact per week over 12 teaching weeks. It is
expected that you will spend, on average, nine hours in self-directed study each week, in addition to the
three hours of class contact. Self-directed study for a particular unit may exceed nine hours during weeks
preceding an in-semester test, submission of a major assignment or final examination.

Unit Relationships
Prohibitions
AFF2631, BFF2631, AFG2631, BFG2631, AFW2631, BFB2631, BFP2631, BFW2631, AFW3044,
AFC2140

Chief Examiner(s)
Dr Hue Hwa Au Yong

Campus Lecturer(s)
Clayton
Dr Hue Hwa Au Yong
Contact hours: Lecture Weeks 1-6
Dr Jason Choo
Contact hours: Lecture Weeks 7-12

BFC2140 Corporate finance - Semester 1, 2014

Malaysia
Dr Robert Terpstra
Contact hours: Weeks 1-12

Your feedback to Us
Monash is committed to excellence in education and regularly seeks feedback from students, employers
and staff. One of the key formal ways students have to provide feedback is through the Student
Evaluation of Teaching and Units (SETU) survey. The Universitys student evaluation policy requires that
every unit is evaluated each year. Students are strongly encouraged to complete the surveys. The
feedback is anonymous and provides the Faculty with evidence of aspects that students are satisfied
and areas for improvement.
For more information on Monashs educational strategy, see:
www.monash.edu.au/about/monash-directions/ and on student evaluations, see:
www.policy.monash.edu/policy-bank/academic/education/quality/student-evaluation-policy.html

Previous Student Evaluations of this Unit

Student feedback has highlighted the following strength(s) in this unit: Well organised and stimulating
unit materials. Student feedback has also contributed to continuous improvements, including: the grading
of tutorial preparation and participation to encourage participation in discussions at the weekly tutorials.
This has been effective in providing feedback to students on a continuous basis throughout the
semester. Go to Unit Evaluation Reports if you wish to view previous evaluations.
If you wish to view how previous students rated this unit, please go to
https://emuapps.monash.edu.au/unitevaluations/index.jsp

Academic Overview
Learning Outcomes
The learning goals associated with this unit are to:
1. evaluate investment options and value equity and debt instruments
2. explain portfolio theory and show how the theory can be extended to price risky assets
3. estimate the appropriate cost of capital for investment appraisal purposes
4. analyse issues determining capital structure and dividend policy
5. apply critical thinking, problem solving and presentation skills to individual and/or group activities
dealing with corporate finance and demonstrate in an individual summative assessment task the
acquisition of a comprehensive understanding of the topics covered by BFC2140.

Unit Schedule
Week

Activities

Assessment
No formal assessment or activities are
undertaken in week 0

Investors, firms & markets (Ch.1)

Financial mathematics (Chs. 5, 6)

Valuation of bonds and equities (Chs. 8, 9)

Project evaluation (1) (Ch.10)

Project evaluation (2) (Ch.11)

Project evaluation with risk (Ch.12)

Risk, valuation & investment (1) (Ch. 7)

Risk, valuation & investment (2) (Ch. 7)

Cost of capital (Ch. 13)

10

Working capital management (Ch. 14)

11

Capital structure (Ch.16)

12

Dividend policy (Ch.17)

Mid-semester test, Tuesday 15 April

2014, 6.15-7.50pm

SWOT VAC

No formal assessment is undertaken

SWOT VAC

Examination period

LINK to Assessment Policy:

http://policy.monash.edu.au/policy-bank/
academic/education/assessment/
assessment-in-coursework-policy.html

Teaching Approach
This unit will be taught as a two-hour lecture and a one-hour tutorial each week for 12 weeks. You are
expected to attend all lectures and tutorials.
The lectures will not cover every aspect of each topic listed in the Unit Schedule as you are expected to
acquire a comprehensive understanding by undertaking the prescribed and recommended reading and
by completing the week-by-week tutorial activities and other in-semester assessment tasks.
The tutorials provide an opportunity for you and your peers to discuss the current topic(s) and to
compare your completed assessment tasks with other students' work and/or model answers. While
tutorials provide an opportunity for you to demonstrate the application of your knowledge and skills there
is also an opportunity for you to ask the tutor to clarify your understanding of the topics and associated
concepts covered to date.
In general you are expected to spend two to three hours of self-directed study for each hour in class.
Some of this time should be devoted to discussions with other students. The benefit of such discussions
will be enhanced if you have completed relevant prescribed and recommended reading and/or started or
completed the current assessment task(s). The prescribed and recommended readings are listed in this
guide and on the unit's Moodle web-site. The Moodle web-site provides access to material like past
examination papers and model answers. These resources will enable you to develop a mastery of the
topics covered by the unit.
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Unit Schedule
To ensure a high probability of successfully completing this unit, you need to manage your time and
studies in a systematic way. At a minimum this should involve:
reading prescribed and selected recommended material prior to attending lectures;
completing week-by-week tutorial activities tasks prior to attending tutorials;
attempting relevant questions from past final examination papers and in-semester tests;
discussions with past and present students; and
revision of the semester's work during the SWOT-Vac and prior to the final examination.

Assessment Summary
Within semester assessment: 40%
Examination: 60%
Assessment Task

Value

Due Date

Preparation and
participation

10%

Weekly tutorial sessions

In-semester test

30%

Clayton Campus: Week 7 - Tuesday 15 April 6.15pm-7.50pm (Building 8

Rotunda) & Monash University Malaysia: Week 7 - TO BE ADVISED

Examination 1

60%

To be advised

Hurdle Requirements
There is a hurdle requirement for this unit.
The learning outcomes of this unit require you to demonstrate a comprehensive understanding of the
topics covered in the unit. Hence the hurdle requirement for this unit requires that you must attain a
mark of at least 50% in the final examination. If you fail the unit solely because of failure to satisfy the
hurdle requirement, a mark of 48 will be determined by the faculty's Board of Examiners on the
recommendation of the unit's Chief Examiner.
The outcome from application of the hurdle requirement is often misunderstood by students who are
awarded 48N. For example, some students mistakenly believe that 48N means they failed the final
examination by two marks and that a second re-mark of their examination paper might find two extra
marks. Whereas 48N does not provide any indication of the mark attained in the final examination other
than a mark less than 50% was awarded.
The following example should make the application of the hurdle requirement clear. In this unit 40% of
the assessment regime is allocated to in-semester assessment and 60% to the final 3-hour examination.
A student enrolled in this unit might achieve 35 out of 40 for their in-semester assessment and 25 out of
60 for the final examination. While the overall total of these marks is 60C the final examination mark is
five marks below the required 50%. Consequently a mark of 48N will be determined by the faculty's
Board of Examiners on the recommendation of the unit's Chief Examiner.

Unit Schedule

Second marking
Where an assessment task is given a fail grade by an examiner, that piece of work will be marked again
by a second examiner who will independently evaluate the work, and consult with the first marker. No
student will be awarded a fail grade for an assessment task or unit without a second examiner confirming
the result.
Note: Exceptions to this are individual pieces of assessment contributing 10% or less of the final mark,
unless the total of such pieces exceeds 30% of the final mark.

Return of final marks

Faculty policy states that 'the final mark that a student receives for a unit will be determined by the Board
of Examiners on the recommendation of the Chief Examiner taking into account all aspects of
assessment'.
The final mark for this unit will be released by the Board of Examiners on the date nominated in the
Faculty Calendar. Student results will be accessible through the my.monash portal.

Exam viewing
Feedback on student performance in examinations and other end-of-semester assessment is required.
The feedback should be in accordance with the University's procedures on Unit Assessment. Details of
the examination script viewing arrangements set down by the Department of Accounting and Finance is
available HERE.

Assessment criteria
Assessment Criteria Grading Descriptors available at:
http://www.buseco.monash.edu.au/esg/agu/policies/assessment.html.

Assessment Requirements
Assessment Tasks

Assessment task 1
Title:
Preparation and participation
Due date:
Weekly tutorial sessions
Details of task:
Tutors will grade students based on the level of preparation and participation during the
weekly tutorials. Please note that attendance itself is not considered participation.
Weighting/Value:
10%
Estimated return date:
Marks will be made available to students via Moodle during Swot-Vac.
Criteria for marking:
The following guidelines will be followed when determining your preparation and
participation mark for each week.
MARK NATURE OF CONTRIBUTION: Preparation and participation
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Outstanding contributor

The comments made by you revealed exceptional preparation and the

contribution provided a substantive foundation for furthering fruitful class
discussions. If you were absent from the class, the tutorial would have lacked
the desired student directed learning.
Good contributor

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The comments made by you revealed thorough preparation and your

contribution provided some useful insight into the topic. At times you even lead
the class discussions. If you were absent from the class, the quality of student
initiated debate would have significantly diminished.
Standard contributor

The comments made by you revealed adequate preparation and at times your
contribution aided class discussions. However, your contribution was not
consistent. At times the comments you made were well argued and/or
persuasive, yet on other occasions they were unsubstantiated and/or illogical. If
you were absent from the class, the quality of the student initiated debate would
have suffered.
Poor contributor

You rarely contributed to class discussions, it is extremely difficult to assess your

level of preparation and the likely contribution you might have made to the class
discussions.
Non-contributor
The comments made by you revealed a lack of preparation and negatively
impacted upon class discussions. Additionally, your contributions failed to
provide a constructive lead to class discussions and invariably disrupted the flow
of debate.
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Assessment Requirements
Learning objectives assessed:
This assessment task is designed to test your achievement of learning objectives 1 to 5.

Assessment task 2
Title:
In-semester test
Due date:
Clayton Campus: Week 7 - Tuesday 15 April 6.15pm-7.50pm (Building 8 Rotunda) &
Monash University Malaysia: Week 7 - TO BE ADVISED
Details of task:
This will be a 1.5 hour test plus 5 minutes reading time.
The test is closed book and the calculator used must comply with the faculty Calculator
Policy.
Further details regarding the test will be provided in lectures closer to the time. There is a
requirement for the university to retain a copy of the test until after results are finalised.
The in-semester test will cover lecture materials up to the end of Week 6.
Weighting/Value:
30%
Estimated return date:
Marks will be made available to students during tutorials in week 10.
Criteria for marking:
Overall, the work submitted for assessment will be graded in accord with the table
showing examples of grades and corresponding achievement levels published in the Q
Manual (2012, p. 6).
Learning objectives assessed:
This assessment task is designed to verify your achievement of learning objectives 1.
Additional information:
If an application for special consideration is received within two full days after an
in-semester test weighted at more than 10 per cent of the final mark; and the application is
approved by the Chief Examiner, then you will be offered a make-up test, which you will
be required to take prior to the examination period.

Examination(s)
Examination 1
Weighting:
60%
Length:
3 hours
Type (open/closed book):
Closed book
Electronic devices allowed in the exam:
Approved calculators will be permitted.
Remarks:
The final examination will be held during the official examination period. Information about
examination schedule can be accessed through my.monash portal.

Assessment Requirements
All source materials, which are specified in the unit guide and on the unit's Moodle site,
are examinable. This includes prescribed reading and other source materials cited in
lectures, tutorials and assessment tasks.
Overall, the work submitted for assessment will be graded in accord with the table
showing examples of grades and corresponding achievement levels published in the Q
Manual (2012, p. 6).

Learning resources
Monash Library Unit Reading List (if applicable to the unit)
http://readinglists.lib.monash.edu/index.html

Feedback to you
Types of feedback you can expect to receive in this unit are:
Informal feedback on progress in labs/tutes
Test results and feedback

Assignment submission
Online submission
If Electronic Submission has been approved for your unit, please submit your work via the learning
system for this unit, which you can access via links in the my.monash portal.

Required Resources
Material used in class together with other information of importance to you will be published online via
the units Moodle site. In order to access information about this unit in Moodle you must be enrolled in
the unit and have a valid student account with authcate username and password. Moodle is accessed
through my.monash portal. When you log in to the portal you access Moodle in the home page by
clicking on the Moodle 2 link under Online Systems.
Work submitted for assessment must be consistent with the guidelines set down in the Q Manual, which
is the faculty's student guide for producing quality work on time. Copies of this manual can be purchased
at the bookshop or accessed online.

Prescribed text(s) and readings

Parrino, R., Kidwell, D., Au Yong, H.H., Dempsey, M., Morkel-Kingsbury, N., Ekanayake, S., Kofoed,
J., & Murray, J. (2014), Fundamentals of Corporate Finance, (Australasian 2nd ed.). Milton, Qld: John
Wiley & Sons Australia.

Assessment Requirements

Technological Requirements
Electronic devices (including calculators) are not permitted in tests and examinations in this unit unless
identified with an approved for use label.
These labels are available from:
Clayton Campus: Banking and Finance General Office (Building 11, Level 10)
Monash University Malaysia: Course Management Staff (building 6, level 4, room 9)

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Other Information
Policies
Monash has educational policies, procedures and guidelines, which are designed to ensure that staff and
students are aware of the Universitys academic standards, and to provide advice on how they might
uphold them. You can find Monashs Education Policies at:
www.policy.monash.edu.au/policy-bank/academic/education/index.html
Key educational policies include:
Student Academic Integrity Policy and Student Academic Integrity: Managing Plagiarism and
Collusion Procedures ;
Assessment in Coursework Programs;
Special Consideration;
Grading Scale;
Discipline: Student Policy;
Academic Calendar and Semesters;
Orientation and Transition; and
Academic and Administrative Complaints and Grievances Policy.

Graduate Attributes Policy

http://www.policy.monash.edu/policy-bank/academic/
education/management/monash-graduate-attributes-policy.html

Student Charter
www.opq.monash.edu.au/ep/student-charter/monash-university-student-charter.html

Student services
The University provides many different kinds of support services for you. Contact your tutor if you need
advice and see the range of services available at http://www.monash.edu.au/students

Monash University Library

The Monash University Library provides a range of services, resources and programs that enable you to
save time and be more effective in your learning and research. Go to www.lib.monash.edu.au or the
library tab in my.monash portal for more information.

Moodle 2
All unit and lecture materials, plus other information of importance to students, are available through the
virtual learning environment Moodle site. You can access Moodle via the my.monash portal.
Where to go for help
If you're stuck, confused or simply not sure how to approach Moodle, there are a number of Moodle
resources that you can tap into.
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Other Information

Disability Liaison Unit

Students who have a disability or medical condition are welcome to contact the Disability Liaison Unit to
discuss academic support services. Disability Liaison Officers (DLOs) visit all Victorian campuses on a
regular basis.
Website: http://www.monash.edu/equity-diversity/disability/index.html
Telephone: 03 9905 5704 to book an appointment with a DLO;
Email: dlu@monash.edu
Drop In: Equity and Diversity Centre, Level 1, Building 55, Clayton Campus.

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