Assignment: The questions required for the individual assignment: Section A: Critically discuss the corporate governance issues related to independent directors and ownership concentration and demonstrate their impact on firm performance using data downloaded from the CSMAR database. Compare your empirical results with two other studies from the literature looking into similar corporate governance issues for different markets. The sample firms need to be in the same industry/industries and listed on the same stock exchange. The minimum number of sample firms is 50. You are required to provide a table of summary statistics and a table of baseline regression results. (50%) Section B: Undertaking research for your chosen firm, you are required to answer the following questions: ▪ Q1) Discuss the advantages and disadvantages of the treasury operations of your chosen firm. What are the improvements that you would recommend? (15%) ▪ Q2) Does the organisation use an IT system to manage its treasury operations? If not, what type would you recommend? If it does, explain why the system is a good choice for the organisation. (13%) ▪ Q3) Define ethical conduct. How would you change the organisation’s framework for ethical conduct if you feel it isn’t as good as it could be, or what would you suggest if it does not have a framework for ethical conduct? (12%) ▪ Q4) By considering at least 3 measures, evaluate the performance of the treasury function of your chosen firm. Do you find any poor performing areas? Please recommend changes and explain how they will address the weaknesses you have identified. (10%) The company you choose must be listed on the London Stock Exchange. Module Learning Outcomes: In this assessment the following learning outcomes will be covered: LO 1. Be able to explain the principles, importance and detailed application of treasury policy, procedures and reporting in order to support their development and implementation in practice. LO 2. To be able to demonstrate how corporate governance and regulatory controls and policies are applied to treasury and how they enable treasury to be carried out in an efficient and ethical manner. LO 3. To understand the key controls over treasury operations and propose controls for systems and processes. LO4. To be able to be able to critically assess and recommend appropriate IT solutions for different treasury requirements and describe the project management steps required for their successful implementation and security controls. LO 5. To be able to explain the fundamental principles of financial reporting and taxation relating to treasury in order to support the preparation and analysis of financial reports, tax analysis and financial and business analysis. Grading Criteria: Fail 49% or below Students only discuss few basic theories, underta
