Fall 2013
Finance 4355
International Risk
Term paper
1.
You will be permitted to draw from numbers to determine your company and they are listed on my website
in the attachment.
2. Turn in your selection typewritten on September 5, 2013; companies not on this list must be preapproved
in order to receive credit. You must also select from one of the seven books on the attached list but must
have my approval.
3. After reviewing the website, annual report and 10K, prepare a complete list of exposures to loss for your
selected company.
4. Using the information on the website, discuss insurance rules and regulations in the countries in which they
operate outside the United States. Should your firm have no operations outside the United States, use
Germany or France
5. Avail yourself to the Handbook of International Insurance which is available in my office and at the reserve
desk at the U of H library and online and address at least one of the countries contained that book-Japan,
UK, France, Germany, Italy, Canada, Netherlands, Spain, Ireland, China, India, South Africa, Brazil, and
South and East Asia. Describe and include insurance operations in at least one country the firm operates in.
Be careful in the amount of detail- not much needed; no more than 3/4 ‘s
6. As we will discuss in Chapter 17, Political risk is a significant exposure for all companies operating outside
of the United States. Refer to Table 17.1 page 434 of the text and utilizing only the websites listed,
investigate the political risk exposure in at least two of the countries your firm operates in and include that
information in detail in your report.
7. Examine the many risks you have complied in item 3, including which you would retain and why and
which and how you would transfer via insurance.
8. Summarize all your findings in a final report accompanying all the several times and submit it on
November 26, 2013. This report must be prepared is strict report form and must be at least 8 pages in
length plus cover page and bibliography or works cited.
In order to be complete, the report must include at minimum the following:
 List the risks and exposures
 How these could be or should be managed, that is retained, transferred via insurance or some
other method.
 Specific information and examination of operations in countries other than the United States.
That should include specific issues about insurance availability and regulation. (item 4&5)
 Specific information on political risk exposure gathered from, and identified, one or more of
the websites listed in Chapter 17.
 Make use of the website for your firm for developments during months/years that could or do
impact operations.
 Be extremely careful with use of zeros in millions and billions of $’s
9. These reports will be graded and returned to you on or before the final.
10. Your insurance discussion should address the requirements in that country, admitted vs. non- admitted and
a brief description of the rules you read. Do not overstate the role of insurance for your firm and tie in if
you can the role of the broker in this discussion
11. You must work individually.
Finance 4355
Books
The option for a book review is yours; the seven books selected are ones that lend themselves to risk
management and energy. The scope of the report is shown for each book and the report is to be 8-10 pages
in length and closes with a summary. For those interested in the (a) book I can offer some guidance during
your work on the project.
Specifically, I would suggest the following:
 The Prize--- History of oil and oil companies in the United States
 The Quest--- Update to 2010 of History of Oil & Gas in the world
 Spreading the Risk--- A history of the two largest insurance brokers, Marsh and Alexander &
Alexander (now AON)
 Fundamentals of ERM--- Mostly case studies of ERM applications
 Integrated Risk Management--- Neil Doherty is probably the leading authority on Risk
Management and this book is used as a text in some universities
 The Art of Risk Management--- Looks at the many techniques and alternatives for Risk
Management.
 Oil and Government--- State owned enterprises and the world energy supply
Reviews of these existing NOC’S (National Oil Companies) available at the reserve desk in the Library