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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