Brokerage Firm

Prepare a written report

Background:

You have recently been hired as part of annual class of trainees at a major brokerage firm, Mercy Securities Corp (a fictitious firm). After a few days of orientation, you begin its trainee “rotation” through several departments across the firm. The first unit you are assigned to is the ___(you pick what interests you)__ Department where, as an initial project, you are asked to research and study the processes and controls of that department. Your job is to fully explain how that department works and what controls are or should be in place.

Your manager wants you to prepare a written report analyzing the chosen department. In addition, he asks you to give him an oral presentation of your findings and conclusions once you have completed your analysis.

Selection of the Department:

Choose a department of interest from within a brokerage firm. Research will show dozens of potential departments. You may choose any department that interests them.

Format for Written Report:

The written report should be organized in the following order:

Section I:     Executive Summary (1 page)

Section II:    Detailed Analysis (3 to 5 pages)

Section III:    Attached Addenda (bibliography, copy of financial statements, comparisons, charts, articles etc.)

Proper identification of the processes within the researched department.

Overall organization of the paper and presentation.

Accurate calculations of chosen financial ratios.

Strong support for the conclusions reached about relative importance of various processes.

The use of multiple research sources to develop the content of your term paper is expected. Information from electronic sources, books, journals, newspapers, business publications and corporations themselves, is acceptable and should be included in the bibliography