Your assignment is to write a “memo” that proposes a financial regulation or innovation to improve outcomes for individual investors. Your response is limited to a maximum of 250 words. Your memo should include a clear description of the following:

1. What is the problem that your regulation or innovation solves?

2. What is the specific regulation or innovation that you propose?

3. How could you implement the regulation or innovation in practice in a way that is cost effective?

You should write your memo as three “paragraphs” that address each of the questions above.

Grading

I will grade the assignment based on:

1. Creativity (10 points). Do you identify a legitimate problem with a financial market or institution? Do you come up with an original idea that could potentially resolve the problem?

2. Clarity (5 points). Can I easily understand your response to all three underlying questions? Remember, your future bosses, colleagues, clients, and customers have limited attention!

3. Mechanics (5 points). Did you turn in a Microsoft Word document? Is your memo formatted in three distinct paragraphs? Is your memo less than 250 words? Is your memo free of spelling and grammatical errors?

Tips

1. Think about one of the important regulations (Sarbanes-Oxley, Glass-Steagall, FDIC) or innovations (Junk Bonds, TIPS, STRIPS) we discussed in class. For practice, write a memo for one of these regulations or innovations as if they didn’t already exist. This may inspire you to find a topic and hone your writing style.

2. Don’t wait until the last minute. Write up a draft in the next month and give it to one of your classmates or friends for comments and suggestions. If you have a draft and come to my office hours, I can also give you feedback.