Considering the rapidly changing developments in the fields of finance and accounting over the recent years, lots of questions have arisen concerning the challenges facing future managers.

Within this context, the Finance, Audit and Control Department concentrates on exploring and specializing in various topics such as financial market microstructure (e.g., market price formation, measuring liquidity, informational content of trading, transaction costs, market efficiency, and the impact of regulatory framework in both domestic and international settings), market finance (e.g., asset pricing and risk management), corporate finance (e.g., mergers and acquisitions), investments (e.g., portfolio management), corporate governance (e.g., ownership structure), banking regulations, management accounting in multinational companies, social and environmental accounting as well as the progress of laws and regulations in audit.

These topics are typically integrated into the courses offered by the Finance, Audit and Control Department faculty and also represent their research interests. The aim at high research standards in the department is recognized by IESEG’s corporate partners which facilitates the organization of executive education programs.

The Finance, Audit and Control Department consists of approximately 30 permanent faculty, 16 visiting professors and 50 sessional instructors with professional backgrounds from academia and private companies. Such diversity in the faculty profiles allows the department to deliver a high standard of courses not only at a theoretical level, but also in dealing with real company issues. Hence, the department’s pedagogy is based on solid theoretical fundamentals, case studies and practical work, while the students benefit from a broad curriculum in the different domains of finance, audit and control.

Students may pursue two specializations (Finance and Audit-Control) and an “apprenticeship program”. Each campus hosts a Financial Markets Lab (or Trading Room) equipped with leading Bloomberg/Reuters professional data services which are one of the largest in terms of seats for students among French business schools. Students that specialize in the Finance track often pursue careers with commercial and investment banks, mutual funds, hedge funds, insurance companies and brokerage firms. Starting September, 2014, the department offers the MSc in Finance (MFIN) degree that was designed according to the Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) guidelines for students wishing to enhance their understanding of financial analysis.

The Audit-Control track prepares students for jobs in management control and auditing, and also for the Chartered Accountant (CA) exam. Starting September, 2014, the department offers the MSc in Accounting, Audit and Control (MAAC) degree that is unique as one of a few worldwide MAAC programs that incorporates the requirements of the three professional accountancy bodies (ACCA, CIMA and CMA) in the core course materials. Students can gain an understanding of modern financial reporting functions from technical and institutional points of view, which enables them to assist companies in achieving sustainable performance.

The “apprenticeship program” allows students who wish to specialize in corporate finance and audit/control to obtain vast practical knowledge due to the fact that they spend a lot of their time in private companies thus gaining “hands-on experience”.