american psychological association provides many online resources B u s i n e s s F i n a n c e

Current Event Paper

The current event paper is an individual project and should reflect your own research, analysis, opinions, and conclusion.

One of the best things about studying securities regulation is that the topic is in the news every day. Every day a new company chooses to go public, another executive at a public company is charged with violating anti-fraud provisions, or another public company is investigated for bribing foreign government officials. This assignment asks that you choose one current event relevant to any of the topics we will study this semester and write a research paper describing what happened, the relevant law, and the significance of the story for the industry, the company, the law, and/or you.

Case Event Paper Grading Criteria:

Essential facts of the case stated well; (25%)

The decision of the court concisely explained; (25%)

The issues in the original filing were accurately articulated; (25%)

Analysis of the case is clear (25%)

How to choose your current event:

The current event must have been in the news within the last six months to a year. To find a topic of interest, start reading the news now. You might also visit the SEC’s website for press releases, or read some 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 law. Your story does not have to be a case that has gone to court already. It can be an investigation, a proposed new rule or regulation, or any other story that implicates the legal issues that we study.

What to include in your paper:

• A detailed description of the current event
• A detailed discussion of the relevant law — explain the law from the very beginning, as if your reader knows nothing about the topic; this is how you demonstrate your understanding of the law
• An analysis of the current event — Why is it important to the industry? What companies will care about this news story? What will its impact be? Who will win? Why? You can choose to answer any or all of these questions (or any other question). The goal is to demonstrate meaningful application of law to facts and deep thinking about the issues presented by the news story

Logistics:

• 7-8 pages, double spaced
• Citation required anytime what you wrote did not originate in your brain
• The paper should be prepared using the APA writing style and guideline for formatting references. You must provide a bibliography, and all direct quotations and data sources must be properly cited.
• The Department uses the APA style to facilitate both reading the paper and understanding references without being as cumbersome as some of the other styles (such as Chicago or MLA).
• Students can download the student style guide from the American Psychological Association Style web site or you can purchase the APA style guide from the bookstore. The American Psychological Association provides many online resources to help you as you write your paper.
• Papers are to be RESEARCH PAPERS. Remember that work that you use from other authors MUST be referenced. Since it is assumed that you are not an authority on the topic that you are writing about, it is expected that this paper is an overview of many different sources of information. These 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 that it means spending an afternoon surfing the internet and then an afternoon cutting from material available.
• Keep in mind that the internet is: (1) not quality oriented as it has both good materials and not so good materials, and the internet does not know the difference; (2) the internet is NOT a sole source location. In particular, sources such as Wikipedia are the works of individual submitters that are not reviewed. Thus, while many entries provide excellent information, some are fundamentally flawed or just plain wrong.
• Keep in mind that the Boston University Library, as well as your local, state, and the national U.S. Library of Congress, have extensive online services. Use them.