If a particular subject-track supplement matters to your Master in Banking and Finance plan at the University of St Gallen, do not count attractive elective titles alone. HSG's current curriculum page requires at least 12 ECTS in the subject track plus a master's thesis in that track. Its compulsory foundation courses do not count towards the track requirement.
This guide uses the current MBF curriculum and programme pages checked on 27 October 2026. It is a study-planning framework, not approval of an individual course combination, future elective availability or a professional qualification.
Start with the compulsory foundation
HSG's MBF curriculum identifies Financial Markets, Financial Institutions and Quantitative Methods as compulsory courses. They are valuable preparation, but the subject-track section explicitly excludes them from the track-credit count.
Make separate spaces in your planning sheet for compulsory foundations, proposed track electives and the thesis. A course may be relevant to your intended work without satisfying a particular award condition. That distinction prevents an academic-interest map from becoming an incorrect credit audit.
The same page presents the MBF as 90 ECTS over three full-time semesters. Use the applicable programme rules to understand the complete degree; do not add a subject-track requirement on top of a total, or assume every interesting course belongs in the same plan, without checking how it is counted.
Build a track-evidence sheet
For each proposed elective, record:
- Exact course name and identifier for the relevant offering.
- Credits and the current evidence that it counts in the intended track.
- Teaching period, prerequisites and any participation or registration conditions.
- Whether the course is merely listed, available for your period, or actually registered.
- A suitable alternative if it cannot form part of your plan.
Keep a separate confirmed-credit total. Do not give a listed or hoped-for course the same status as one accepted into your actual study plan.
For a hypothetical check, a student might have several finance courses in mind but no confirmed track classification for one of them. The useful next action is to clarify that classification and an alternative, not to assume the total meets the requirement. This example describes a planning problem, not a real student's record or an approved HSG combination.
Make the thesis part of the decision early
HSG's track condition joins credits with a thesis in the corresponding subject area. It is therefore possible to have enough relevant-looking coursework and still leave an important part of the track plan unresolved.
Write a working research direction before treating the track as decided. Identify the financial question, possible methods, data you would need, and the preparation you would have to demonstrate. These are investigation fields, not promises of a project or supervisor.
Our research-supervisor guide can help structure that inquiry. Confirm the applicable thesis and supervision arrangements through HSG's current process; a lecturer's research interests or a course list does not establish supervision availability.
If your interests change after taking electives, revisit both the learning goal and the track requirements. Do not keep a supplement label in the plan simply because it was your original preference.
Compare the work, not only the focus-area label
The MBF overview describes research-seminar work and a research-based thesis alongside the programme's finance teaching. Translate that into a preparation check: what analysis have you done, what assumptions can you defend, and what evidence can you communicate clearly?
Use our assessment-workload guide to compare project work with the other master's options on your shortlist. A student drawn mainly to a field's name may find that the actual research and quantitative work is the more consequential fit decision.
The curriculum also calls the MBF Integration Days compulsory and links successful completion to starting the degree. Confirm your cohort's exact dates and arrangements before making an arrival plan. This article does not carry an older calendar week into a future intake.
A track is not proof of access to a finance job
A concentration can describe learning choices; it does not establish employer selection, experience requirements, language fit or permission to work. Keep the role you want and the evidence needed for that role in a separate record.
The programme's promotional career claims are not used here as a representative employment rate or your likelihood of an offer. A meaningful outcome comparison needs its cohort, denominator, timing, role and location definitions. Our employment-data guide explains that check.
Your next action is one joined sheet: compulsory foundations, verified track-credit evidence, thesis direction and unresolved registration or supervision questions. Use it to test whether the track supports the work you want to learn, then confirm the applicable rules before relying on the supplement in your study plan.
Prepared with AI assistance from the linked primary HSG pages. No individual admission, course place, thesis approval, employment outcome or partner relationship is confirmed.
