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 attempting to bribe foreign government officials. The current event research paper 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.

How to choose your current event:

The current event must have been in the news within the last six months. To find a topic of interest, start reading the financial and business news now. You might also visit the SEC’s website for press releases, or 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 we discuss in class.

What to include in your paper:

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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, single spaced

Citation required anytime what you just wrote down 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 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, it is

expected that this paper is an overview of many different sources of information. Each of these must be

attributed to the author using the APA format.

This is your paper and not the 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: (1) is not quality oriented as it has good materials and not so good

materials, and does not know the difference; (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, 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 US Library

of Congress have extensive online services. USE THEM.

Answer preview

The market crash of 1929 significantly shaped security regulations. Specifically, the event influenced Congress to pass the 1933 Security Act, to ensure the provision of material information to the investors and to protect them from fraud and promote honesty and fair dealing. Section 17(a) is one of the important provisions of the 1933 Act, which prohibits misrepresentation and fraud in the sale and offer of securities. The 1933 Act regulates the offer and sales of securities by the issuer to the insiders. Another significant regulation is the 1934 Security Exchange Act, which governs security transactions. Section 13(a) of the 1934 Act requires the company to report all the security-based swaps. The 1934 Act focuses on ethics in security transactions by promoting integrity in the securities trade markets. Publicly traded companies are required to disclose all information that pertains to their securities. The Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 made increased responsibilities for the officers who make corporate disclosures, and Congress created a new accounting board to oversee the public companies’ audits.  Disclosure of accurate…