Amandine Hanon, MSc 2007, Honoured in Paris
Economics and Finance Thesis Competition
April 17, 2008
Amandine Hanon, MSc 2007, Finance option, received an accessit* in the Grand Prix des professions financières competition, at the Headquarters of the Société Générale in the La Défense district of Paris, as part of the 2008 Mémoires de l’économie et de la finance competition organized by the Centre des professions financières. The competition rewards the top theses by graduates of universities and grandes écoles in France and abroad. Just over 180 theses were submitted, and 7 awards and 2 accessits were presented. The Chair of the jury for this year’s edition of the competition, the 24th, was Jean-Guy de Waël, Honorary President of the European Federation of Financial Analysts Societies.
Amandine’s thesis, entitled Courus discrétionnaires et assurance de la responsabilité civile des administrateurs et dirigeants : le cas des entreprises canadiennes, was directed by Martin Boyer, Director of the Department of Finance. It looks at the Canadian experience with discretionary accruals and civil liability insurance for corporate directors and officers.
According to the jury, her thesis was noteworthy for its analysis of the inconsistent availability of information. She concluded that regulatory agencies and governments should be advised to require firms to disclose information on the clauses of the civil liability insurance for their directors and officers, so as to make it possible to examine their practices and draw valuable lessons. “Unlike many countries, Canada and the UK already require firms to provide information,” explains Amandine. “But it would be better if firms had to provide more details.” She feels that this recommendation is particularly important in the current context, as investors are constantly seeking to sift through the information available on financial markets.
Amandine has been working as a financial analyst with Proctor & Gamble in Toronto since September 2007.
The Mémoires de l’économie et de la finance competition
The competition is designed to bring academics and practitioners together around many disciplines dealing with financial issues, including economics, law, insurance and auditing. It is also intended to encourage students to look at challenges faced by the financial professions and to foster discussions among the different spheres of economics and finance, such as banks, insurance companies, investment firms, public-sector organizations and financial markets.
* Distinction ranked below an award, but before an honourable mention.