Assignment 3: credit card liabilities and fraud

Assignment 3: Credit Card Liabilities and Fraud

When a credit card is lost or stolen, it can be used until its owner reports it as missing. This loss of one’s credit card can result in fraud and therefore, being aware of the legalities that follow is important. This assignment addresses the legal ramifications.

Consider the following scenario:

Furman Smoogie, a sales and marketing representative for the Rubberman Corporation in Centervale, took his client Warren Sacamano to an expensive lunch at a fancy steakhouse. At the time of paying the bill, Furman noticed that his American Express card was missing from his wallet. He used his Visa card instead. While driving home, Furman realized that he had last used the missing American Express card about a week earlier when he dined at a local sushi bar. He was now concerned that a sales clerk may have used the card to make fraudulent purchases.

Using your assigned readings, Argosy University online library resources, and the Internet, prepare a paper which addresses the following:

· Review and identify Furman’s legal rights in this situation.

· Explain the probability that Furman will have to pay American Express for any illegal charges to the account.

· Evaluate the steps which he should take in order to protect himself from further loss as a result of losing his card.

Support your statements with examples and at least three scholarly references, including your textbook.

Write a 2–3-page paper in Word format. Apply APA standards to citation of sources. Use the following file naming convention: LastnameFirstInitial_M1_A3.doc.

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July 1, 2023

Individual Assignmnet Corporate Finance

Tenyearsago,in 2003,GeorgeReebyfoundeda smallmail-‐order companysellinghigh-‐ qualitysportsequipment.SincethoseearlydaysReebySportshas grownsteadilyand been consistently profitable.

The companyhas issued2millionshares,all of whichareownedbyGeorgeReebyand his five children.Thecompanydoesnot useanydebtin its capitalstructure.Forsomemonths George has beenwonderingwhetherthetimehas cometo takethecompanypublic.This wouldallowhimto cashin on partof his investmentand wouldmakeit easierforthefirmto raise capital should it wish to expand in the future.

But how much are the shares worth? George's first instinct is to look at the firm's balance

sheet, which shows that the book value of the equity is $26.34 million, or $13.17 per share.

A share price of 13.17 would put the stock on a P/E ratio of 6.6. That is quite a bit lower than

the 13.1 P/E ratio of Reeby's larger the rival, Molly Sports.

Georgesuspectsthat bookvalueis not necessarilya goodguideto a share'smarketvalue. Hethinksof his daughterJenny,whoworksin an investmentbank.Shewouldundoubtedly knowwhatthesharesareworth.Hedecidesto phoneheraftershefinishesworkthat evening at 9 o'clock or before she starts the next day at 6.00 a.m.

Beforephoning,Georgejots downsomebasicdata on thecompany'sprofitability.After recoveringfromits earlylosses,thecompanyhas earneda returnthat is higherthan its estimated10%costof capital.Georgeis fairlyconfidentthat thecompanycouldcontinueto growsteadilyforthenextthreeto fiveyears.In fact,hefeelsthat thecompany'sgrowthhas beensomewhatheldbackin thelast fewyearsbythedemandsfromtwoof thechildrenfor the company to make large dividend payments. Perhaps, if the company went public, it

could hold back on dividends and plow more money back into the business.

Therearesomecloudson thehorizon.Competitionis increasingand onlythat morning MollySportsannouncedplans to forma mail-‐order division.Georgeis worriedthat beyond thenextthreeorso yearsit mightbecomedifficultto find worthwhileinvestment opportunities.

GeorgerealizesthatJennywillneedto knowmuchmoreabouttheprospectsforthe businessbeforeshecanputa final figureon thevalueof ReebySports,buthehopesthat

theinformationbelowis sufficientforherto givea preliminaryindicationof thevalueof the

shares.

Column1	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007	2008	2009	2010	2011	2012	2013E
earningsper share,$	-‐0.70	-‐0.23	0.81	1.10	1.30	1.52	1.64	2.00	2.03	2.33	2.68
Dividend,$	0.00	0.00	0.20	0.20	0.30	0.30	0.60	0.60	0.80	0.80	1.00
Bookvalue pershare,$	7.70	7.00	7.61	8.51	9.51	10.73	11.77	13.17	14.40	15.93	17.62
ROE,%	-‐7.14	-‐2.99	11.57	14.45	15.28	15.98	15.28	16.99	15.41	16.21	16.85

a) HelpJennyto forecastdividendpaymentsforReebySportsand to estimatethevalue of thestock.You do notneedto providea singlefigure.Forexample,youmaywishto calculatetwofigures,oneon theassumptionthattheopportunityforfurther profitableinvestmentis reducedin year3and anotheron theassumptionthatitis reducedin year5.You canassumea costof equityof 12%forthecalculation.

(21points)

OnceReebyoperatesas a marketlistedfirm,Georgewillhaveto justifythefirm’scapital structuretowardsshareholders.Hehas heardfromhis daughterthatmostfirmsshould use atleastsomedegreeof debtif thegoalis themaximizationof shareholdervalue.Jenny mentioneda “debttax shield”as thereasonforherclaim.George,on theotherhand is worriedabouttheincreasedriskthatdebtmightbringforequityholders.

b) Brieflyexplaintheleverageeffectand howitis relatedto theexpectedriskfor shareholders.Also,explainthebalancing(ortrade-‐off) theoryof capitalstructure. Whatarethetwoeffectsthatneedto bebalancedand whatdoesthetheoryimplyfor thedebt/equitychoiceof Reeby?(13points)

Georgeis increasinglyconfidentto takethefirmpublic.However,therearestill someissues aroundtheIPOprocessthathehas notyetfiguredout. Hehas writtendownthesequestions and asksforyourhelp:

c) Pleaseexplainwhata „Greenshoeoption“ is and underwhatcircumstancesitis used.

(4points)

d) WithintheIPOprocessunderwritersplayan importantrole.Definetheterms underwriterand syndicateand explaintheirrole/purpose.(4points)

e) In 2003,prosecutorschargedseveralinvestmentbankersforwhatis called“spinning”.

Brieflyexplaintheunderlyingprincipleand rationalizetheuseof spinningby investmentbanks.(8points)