Instruction
Research Project Guidelines Due 1:29pm, Tuesday, 10/30/18
I. Objective
You will conduct a research project on one Financial Intermediary type (Banks, Finance Companies, Investment Banks, Hedge Funds, Mutual Funds / ETFs or Insurance Companies.) The project deliverable will be a professionally constructed paper (with full research citations) describing the FI, its role in the economy, its historical evolution, relevant financial risks, examples of impacts in financial crises, key regulators and regulations, and other topics you feel may be important.
II. General Requirements
a. Submit the material in a Word document in class on the due date, Tuesday, October 30, 2018 (Official deadline is 1:29pm 10/30/18). Late submission will reduce your grade by 5% and then reduce 1% per day thereafter.
b. Submit one copy of the project printed on 8.5” x 11.0” paper in class on Tuesday, October 30, 2018. Note: This is in addition to the electronic official submission.
c. Do NOT plagiarize any content for this report.
d. Minimum of 12, Maximum of 16 pages (without citations, double spaced, font Calibri 12)
e. This is a group project, there will be a group grade and each member will be given the same
grade. I expect the paper to be well written, informative and enjoyable to read.
III. Specific Topics to be Presented (These are ideas, you could do more.)
a. Summary of the Financial Intermediary, a few names (up to 5) of the corporations in this group and its role in the economy
b. Historical evolution (products, size of firms, etc.) Why they exist compared to other FIs. Advantages and disadvantages. How do they obtain most of their financing? How do they make money (basic business model)? What are their key ratios (ROA, ROE, Leverage, etc.) with some brief explanations as to why these ratios are worth mentioning? Don’t fill this paper with charts, graphs, tables, etc. Use them sparingly and primarily discuss concepts.
c. Summary of Financial Risks the FI faces.
d. Its role in one financial crisis (describe the crisis, when it started, who was involved, what impact the FI had, how was it resolved?)
e. The regulatory structure, key regulators and their actions before, during and after the crisis. Describe the key regulations that existed before the crisis and any new regulation that was created in response.
f. Use everything you have learned about the FI in and out of class to forecast when another crisis may involve your FI, how it would happen and why you think this is possible?