Questions we Can Help you to Answer
Paper Instructions:
Current Event Research Paper:
One of the best things about studying securities regulation is that the topic is in the news every day. Virtually every day a new company chooses to go public, another public company executive is charged with violating anti-fraud provisions, and another securities professional is charged with defrauding clients. The current event research paper assignment asks you to choose one current event relevant to any of the topics we will study this semester, and write a short research paper describing what happened, the relevant law and ethical considerations, and the significance of the story -- for the securities industry, for the issuer, for the law, and for you.
How to choose your current event:
The current event must have been in the news within the last twelve (12) months. To find a topic of interest, start reading the financial and business news now. You might also visit the SEC’s website (enforcement press releases), or any of the many blogs on securities regulation, white-collar crime, or corruption. You can also follow the SEC on Twitter. Once you find a news story, you will research it more deeply, including the relevant court or regulatory filings and applicable statutes and/or regulations. Your story does not have to be about a case that has already gone to court. It can be an investigation, a proposed new rule or regulation, or any other news story that implicates the regulatory and ethical issues we discuss in class.
What to include in your paper:
• a detailed factual description of the current event
• a detailed discussion of the applicable law and/or regulation – explain the law
from the very beginning, as if your reader knows nothing about the topic. This
will demonstrate your understanding of the law
• an analysis of the current event – Why is the reported conduct illegal or
unethical? Why is the event important to the securities industry? What companies will care about this news story? What will be its likely impact? If there is litigation, who do you think will win? Why?
• The goal is to demonstrate meaningful application of the law to facts, and deep thinking about the ethical issues presented by the event.
Logistics:
No more than 8 pages, double-spaced, 1" margins, 12 point or larger type font, with subheadings to organize and divide the discussion
Citation required for any facts or ideas that did not originate in your brain
The paper should be prepared using the APA writing style and guideline for references’ format. You must provide a bibliography, and all direct quotations and data sources must be properly cited
• The Department uses the APA style to facilitate reading the paper and
understanding references without being as cumbersome as some other citation styles (such as Chicago or MLA).
• Students can download the student style guide from the American Psychological Association (http://www.apastyle.org/elecref.html) web site or you can purchase the APA style guide from the book store. There is even a help disk that can be purchased for about $40 (http://www.apa.org/software/) that will walk you through the process as you write the paper if you desire a more “personal assistance”.
• Papers are to be RESEARCH PAPERS. Remember that work from other authors that you draw upon MUST be referenced. Since it is assumed that you are not an authority on the topic that you are writing, it is expected that your paper will draw from different sources of information, each of which must be attributed to the author using the APA format.
• This is your paper and not a cut and paste of someone else's work. The internet has led to a false sense of what research is all about. Those new to research tend to think (wrongly) that it means spending an afternoon surfing the internet and then cutting and pasting others' material.
• Keep in mind that the Internet: (1) is not quality-oriented as it has good materials and not so good materials, and does not disclose which is which; (2) is NOT a sole source location. In particular, sources such as Wikipedia are the works of individual submitters which are not reviewed. Thus while many entries provide excellent information or leads for further inquiry, some are fundamentally flawed or just plain wrong.
• Keep in mind that the Library as well as the national US Library of Congress have extensive online services. USE THEM.
