Individual Assignment
Assignment Type: Project Learning Objectives Assessed: 2, 3, 4 Due
Date: May 09, 2022, 6PM
Weight: 35%
Learning objectives:
• Analyse risk management in finance institutions
• Measure the performance of financial institutions
• Appraise securitisation, corporate capital raising, credit ratings, and international
banking
Word Count: 1500 (+/-10%), excluding figures, appendix, and references
Assignment Questions
Question 1: Analyse Risk and Challenges
Marks 15
The COVID-19 pandemic has impacted the capital markets, investors, and businesses in
many different ways. Using the monthly stock market data for the last 12 months preceding
the pandemic and up until December 2021: You need to collect market data from the last
12 months preceding the pandemic and up until December 2021.If you consider November
2019 as the date of pandemic, you have to collect data from November 2018 to December
2021. Hope this clarifies the issue.
a. Briefly discuss the stock price reactions of the COVID-19 pandemic on the financial
sector industry. (Marks 10)
b. What are the key risks and challenges do financial industries face during the period
of a crisis? (Marks 5)
Sectoral/Finnacial sector stock exchange data can be obtained from various sources,
such as, https://www2.asx.com.au/ or yahoo finance
https://finance.yahoo.com/screener/predefined/ms_financial_services/
For this question, you can consider the case of any country or stock exchange for which
stock market data is available.
Question 2: Measure the performance of financial institutions Marks 10
As COVID-19 hits a global scale, Central Banks around the World started to cut their cash
rate. Reserve Bank of Australia, for example, cut interest rates by 140 basis points from
1.5
percent in May 2019 to 0.1 percent in November 2020. These rate cuts have savagely
eroded bank margins.
a. Discuss with evidence the key challenges a bank face in an environment of low-
interest rate margin. (Marks 5)
b. Discuss how regulations can help to mitigate financial sector risk. (Marks 5)
Question 3: Securitization, corporate capital raising, credit ratings, and international
banking. Marks 10
1. Discuss the importance of corporate governance on capital market efficiency.
(Marks 4)
2. Use the ASX webpage http://www.asx.com.au/prices/upcoming.htm to identify upcoming
IPOs.
a. What is the industry classification of these IPOs? (Marks 2)
b. Discuss the factors that influence the timing and pricing of IPOs. (Marks 4)
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Assessment Guidelines
Submission format
• The length of your submission should be 1500 words (+/-10%) excluding charts,
appendix, and references. Use 1.5 line spacing, 12 font-size ‘Times New Roman’,
‘Normal’ margins, justified paragraphs, and page numbering in the bottom right-
hand.
• Word count does not include graphs, appendix tables, and references.
• Please insert your full name (family name entered last in capital letters) and eight-
digit student number as a header on every page of yours.
• As a rule of thumb, using shorter paragraphs or sentences improve readability.
Footnotes should be kept to a minimum. Please make sure we can follow where one
section ends and the other begins, i.e., use subheadings to guide the reader.
Further instructions
• There could be more than one answer acceptable to the examiners. However, it is
your responsibility to defend your answers coherently in your written submission.
That is, providing vague comments or disjointed arguments are not acceptable
answers. Similarly, any jargon or acronym should be followed by a brief definition or
explanation when first used, e.g., for RBA, Reserve Bank of Australia should be
mentioned in the first place.
• Once again, you need to pay close attention to your arguments being coherent from
one question to the next. A better approach is to address both sides of an argument
(i.e. pros and cons), and either stop there or if you feel strongly about taking a
position, clarify why you are doing so. Once again, as long as your arguments are
presented coherently, either approach would be acceptable for assessment
purposes.
• It is good practice to initially develop your answers without worrying about the
prescribed length. Once you believe you have completed your literature review (i.e.
reading what others have published), you can then work towards polishing and
cutting it down to size. Make sure you follow the submission guidelines.
• You are responsible for submitting your assignment on TurnItIn. Once you are happy
with the TurnItIn similarity report on your pdf file that copy becomes your ‘final’
copy. Please note that leaving the TurnItIn submission to the last day may work
against you because there is a 24 hours delay between resubmissions and the
generation of the originality report. That is, the first report is generated within
minutes, but each report thereafter has a 24 hours delay.
• Please be aware that plagiarism, partly defined as copying and pasting someone
else’s words into your assignment without proper acknowledgment, is unacceptable
at UQ. Similarly, when you report someone else’s comments or ideas, you need to
fully acknowledge the source right next to it. Sources you use should be placed after
each question (Q1, Q2, and Q3). Use the Harvard Referencing Style (see Blackboard
under Assessment) for referencing.
• Submissions will be electronically checked for similarity using TurnItIn (the extensive
checking process involves the World Wide Web as well as previously and currently
submitted assignments, journals and various other publications). Before finalising
your submission, you should use TurnItIn to make sure similarity for any given source
is as low as possible. It is also highly recommended that you take the online
Marking criteria
• For details, please carefully refer to the assessment Rubric posted on
Blackboard under ‘Assessment’.
Assignment Marking Rubric
Question Well below expectations
(Marks <50%)
Below expectations
Marks>50% & <65%
Meets Expectations
Marks>65% & <75%
Very good
Marks>75% & <85%
Outstanding
(Marks >85%)
Q1: Analyse Risk and
Challenges
Lack of clear
presentation of data
and ideas with major
problems referencing
and labelling.
Underdeveloped
analysis in
identifying,
generating, and
synthesising the key
trends, risk and
challenges
Lack of clear
messaging. Evidence
of grammatical
errors.
Adequate
presentation on data
and ideas with some
problems in
referencing and
labelling.
Provide adequate
insights from data.
Adequate analysis in
identifying,
generating, and
synthesising the key
trends, risks and
challenges
Adequate messaging.
Some grammatical
errors.
Good presentation on
data and ideas with
proper referencing
and labelling.
Deliver insights from
data.
Good analysis in
identifying,
generating, and
synthesising the key
trends, risks and
challenges
Good messaging.
Minor grammatical
errors.
Very good presentation
on data and ideas with
proper referencing and
labelling.
Critical insights from
data.
Very good analysis in
identifying, generating,
and synthesising the key
trends, risks and
challenges
Clear messaging. Little or
no grammatical errors.
Excellent presentation on data
and ideas with proper
referencing and labelling.
Expert and critical insights from
data.
Significant and sophisticated
analysis in identifying,
generating, and synthesising the
key trends, risks and challenges
Communicate at an expert level
with no grammatical errors.
Q2 Performance of
financial institutions
Lack of clear
presentation with
failure to identify the
key challenges.
Major problems
referencing and
labelling.
Underdeveloped
ideas in identifying,
generating, and
synthesising the key
arguments.
Lack of clear
messaging. Evidence
of grammatical
errors.
Adequate
presentation of data
and ideas with some
problems in
referencing and
labelling.
Adequate analysis in
identifying,
generating, and the
key arguments.
Adequate messaging.
Some grammatical
errors.
Good presentation of
data and ideas with
proper referencing
and labelling.
Good analysis in
identifying,
generating, and
synthesising the key
arguments. Good
messaging. Minor
grammatical errors.
Very good presentation of
data and ideas with
proper referencing and
labelling.
Very good analysis in
identifying, generating,
and synthesising the key
trends, risk and
challenges the key
arguments.
Clear messaging. Little or
no grammatical errors.
Excellent presentation of data
and ideas with proper
referencing and labelling.
Significant and sophisticated
analysis in identifying,
generating, and synthesising the
key arguments.
Communicate at an expert level
with no grammatical errors.
Q3 Securitization,
corporate capital
raising
Lack of clear
presentation with
failure to identify the
key industry
classification and
influencing factors.
Major problems
referencing and
labelling.
Underdeveloped
ideas in identifying,
generating, and
synthesising the key
arguments.
Lack of clear
messaging. Evidence
of grammatical
errors.
Adequate
presentation industry
classification and
influencing factors
with some problems
in referencing and
labelling.
Adequate analysis in
identifying,
generating, and the
key arguments.
Adequate messaging.
Some grammatical
errors.
Good presentation
industry classification
and influencing
factors with proper
referencing and
labelling.
Good analysis in
identifying,
generating, and
synthesising the key
arguments.
Good messaging.
Minor grammatical
errors.
Very good presentation
industry classification and
influencing factors with
proper referencing and
labelling.
Very good analysis in
identifying, generating,
and synthesising the key
trends, risk and
challenges the key
arguments.
Clear messaging. Little or
no grammatical errors.
Excellent presentation industry
classification and influencing
factors with proper referencing
and labelling.
Significant and sophisticated
analysis in identifying,
generating, and synthesising the
key arguments.
Communicate at an expert level
with no grammatical errors.