1. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is the primary federal governmental agency regulating corporate governance matters. Go to the SECs webpage, www.sec.gov, and prepare a one-page summary regarding what the SEC primarily does. Also, find the section on the site that shows speeches and public statements and read at least one speech or public statement by an SEC official to get a better idea about some of the agencys current activities.
   
   
2. The California Public Employees Retirement System (CalPERS) is the largest pension fund in the United States, with over $140 billion in assets. CalPERS has in recent years been very active as a major investor in the corporate governance area. Go to the CalPERS website at www.calpers.ca.gov and locate the page that lists press releases. Find three press releases during the past three years dealing with the pension funds investments or corporate governance activities. Then write a one- to two-page synopsis of the issues addressed in these three press releases.
   
   
3. General Electric (GE) has been at the vanguard of corporate governance and business ethics reforms. Go to the GE website, www.ge.com, and find the companys statement about its commitment to governance. Skim the provisions of this section to get an idea regarding the companys activities in this regard, and then find the companys code of conduct. Locate the section dealing with GEs integrity policy for employees. Pick any two GE employee integrity policiesfair employment practices, privacy, conflicts of interestand write a one- to two- page paper analyzing the quality of these policies and how they might possibly be improved or why it looks as though they cant be improved.