ECON5026
S2 2025, Term Paper
Topic of the Term Paper
The topic Description for the term paper is provided below:
The Royal Commission into Misconduct in the Banking, Superannuation and Financial Services
Industry (Final Report | Royal Commissions) was created to examine the misbehaviour of financial
services entities and their agents. In its Final Report, the Commission wrote that:
[I]n almost every case, the conduct in issue was driven not only by the relevant entity’s pursuit of
profit but also by individuals’ pursuit of gain, whether in the form of remuneration for the individual
or profit for the individual’s business. Providing a service to customers was relegated to second
place. Sales became all important. Those who dealt with customers became sellers. And the
confusion of roles extended well beyond front line service staff. Advisers became sellers and sellers
became advisers
This assignment is designed to help you develop your research, analytical, and professional writing
skills. Good writing skills are one of the most important graduate attributes sought after by
employers. You will need to become adept at finding relevant resources.
In this assignment you are to:
1. Discuss how the incentive structure in financial services firms can lead sales to become “all
important”, with customers “relegated to second place”.
2. Examine what evidence there is that conflicts of interest created by incentive structures can
influence financial advisers and lead to poor outcomes for customers.
In answering the question, you should:
• Apply the concepts, theories and models that you have learned in class
• Discuss theoretical issues and empirical evidence. Set out a logical argument and draw on
relevant evidence when making assertions
• Use appropriate referencing where an idea has been drawn from a scholarly source
(scholarly journal articles, working papers, research books and other scholarly publications).
Referencing should be complete, comprehensive and consistent. This implies that any
reference that you list should allow the reader to go to that source and confirm that the
source is correct and the arguments espoused in the writing are in fact derived from that
source. Harvard referencing is recommended for referencing. A Harvard Referencing Guide
is provided on Canvas.
The word limit for this assessment is 1,500 words (excluding the abstract and bibliography).

Suggested Reading
You are expected to do some independent research in writing this paper. This research should
inform your discussion of the relevant issues and provide empirical evidence of what is happening ‘in
the real world’.
Factiva and Business Source Premier will help you find articles in the press. Links to each can be
found here Links to an external site.. You should search in reputable sources such as the Economist
Magazine, Australian Financial Review and the Wall Street Journal etc. You should avoid articles from
sources such as the Daily Telegraph. Industry and government reports should also prove useful in
writing this paper.
For those who wish to excel, extend your search to academic articles. Google Scholar is a useful
source of academic references. You should also use Econlit publication database depository
accessible through the university library.
Industry and government reports could also prove useful.
The following reading provides a start:
• An introduction to the behaviour of financial advisers is in Chapter 3 of the first volume of
the Final Report of the Royal Commission
(https://www.royalcommission.gov.au/banking/final-report).
• In a report to the Royal Commission (Links to an external site.), Cornell University Professor
Sunitah Sah answered four questions on conflicts of interest in advice. Her answer to the
first question provides a short overview of the evidence and points to the major references
in the area. (A copy of this report is also available here on Canvas).
Structure
The essay should include:
• A short summary or abstract (not exceeding 150 words)
• A bibliography and a list of data or other sources at the end.
• Footnotes should be avoided. If figures and/or tables are used, they should be placed in the
body of the essay.
Submission
The due date for submission is 23:59 on Sunday 2 November 2025. Marking is anonymous in
compliance with the School's policy. So, you can only include your student ID (SID). Do not include
your name in the paper. You should use your SID at the top of the essay, in headers and footers,
and in the file name.
You are required to submit an electronic version in Canvas. No simple extensions are available for
this assessment.
Academic honesty
While the University is aware that the vast majority of students and staff act ethically and honestly,
it is opposed to and will not tolerate academic dishonesty or plagiarism and will treat all allegations
of dishonesty seriously.
Further information on academic honesty, academic dishonesty, and the resources available to all
students can be found on the academic integrity pages on the current students
website: https://sydney.edu.au/students/academic-integrity.html.
Further information for on research integrity and ethics for postgraduate research students and
students undertaking research-focussed coursework such as Honours and capstone research
projects can be also be found on the current students
website: https://sydney.edu.au/students/research-integrity-ethics.html.
Compliance statement
In submitting this work, I acknowledge I have understood the following:
• I have read and understood the University of Sydney's Academic Honesty in Coursework
Policy 2015.
• The work is substantially my own and where any parts of this work are not my own I have
indicated this by acknowledging the source of those parts of the work and enclosed any
quoted text in quotation marks.
• The work has not previously been submitted in part or in full for assessment in another unit
unless I have been given permission by my unit of study coordinator to do so.
• The work will be submitted to similarity detection software (Turnitin) and a copy of the work
will be retained in Turnitin's paper repository for future similarity checking. Note: work
submitted by postgraduate research students for research purposes is not added to
Turnitin's paper repository.
• Engaging in plagiarism or academic dishonesty in coursework will, if detected, lead to the
University commencing proceedings under the Academic Honesty in Coursework Policy
2015 and the Academic Honesty Procedures 2016.
• Engaging in plagiarism or academic dishonesty in research-focussed work will lead to the
University commencing proceedings under the Research Code of Conduct 2013 and
the Academic Honesty Procedures 2016.
• Engaging another person to complete part or all of the submitted work will, if detected, lead
to the University commencing proceedings against me for potential student misconduct
under the University of Sydney (Student Discipline) Rule 2016.

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