search other threads about MFE vs other degrees
this is one of those MFE vs. MBA, vs. MsF vs. PhD questions; there's a bunch of threads about this on quantnet, just run a search, you;ll come across those.
yes, masters in finance is a much broader/general type of education. i think US and UK masters in finance are equally general and equally different from MFE.
yes again, MFE is much, MUCH more specific and specialized, hence the prerequisites. don't forget, it's pretty much applying science to finance.
from experience and other people's opinions, most of the stuff that a typical MsF would be doing at the firm can be taught during the course of corporate training that the new employees go through upon being hired. to a big extend, same goes for MBAs.
MFE skills are much more specialized and people concede it's very hard to teach them on the go, one has to have a serious academic background in that. for most quant positions, people, while willing to teach you certain tricks/details, expect you to hit the ground running.
it all depends on what you want to do, you can't say that one degree is better than another, for one could make a strong case for either.
bottom line - MsFinance - broader but shallower, MFE - more specialized but much deeper.
an MFE's equivalent of MsF's $ is (\int)