Part one
The financial system and its role. Financial activities: definition and implications. Interest rates, returns and the monetary value of time. Some definitions of financial intermediation and financial intermediaries. Financial institutions. Financial services and products. A taxonomy of financial services. Financial services for final investors. Financial services admitted to mutual recognition.
The products of the financial system. The risks of financial assets. The regulation of the financial system.

Part two
The study of the micro-structure and the institutions of the financial system. Intermediaries, institutional investors and major markets of the financial system. The banking system: the Central Bank. The European System of Central Banks (ESCB). Monetary policy and the ESCB. Lender of last resort and extraordinary interventions. Banks and their economic function. Intermediaries offering investment services. The authorization to investment services.

Part three
The study of the instruments of the financial system. Formal and economic characteristics of financial instruments. Elements of portfolio theory. Government securities and private debt securities. The main categories of securities. The problem of structured bonds in Consob's analysis. Evaluation of financial security. Return on assets and spreads. Shares. Economic evaluation of shares. The categories of shares. Shares, voting rights, and control of companies. Financial analysts. Derivative instruments.