Government Regulation Interview Assignment: Banking Industry Interview Questions and Outreach Plan (Example)

Assignment: Interviewing industry professionals about government regulation

Objective: gain insight into the impact of government regulation on business by interviewing industry professionals.

1. Choose a regulated industry, such as health care, insurance, energy, banking or auto.
2. Find and reach out to at least two business leaders or professionals in that industry.
3. Develop at least 10 interview questions covering the structure of the industry, specific regulations, the reasons for them, their impact on operations, consumers and competition, challenges and benefits, and suggestions for improving regulatory policy.

Original example for study purposes (about 710 words). This model covers preparation and questions only; your findings must come from your own interviews, so do not invent responses.

Industry Selected: Banking (Community and Regional Banks)

Banking is one of the most heavily regulated U.S. industries because banks hold customer deposits, create credit and can trigger wider economic crises when they fail. Before the interviews, I reviewed the main regulators and rules so I could ask informed questions:

• Regulators: the Federal Reserve, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) and state banking departments.
• Key laws and rules: deposit insurance and capital requirements; the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (2010), passed after the 2008 financial crisis; the Bank Secrecy Act and anti-money-laundering (AML) rules; the Community Reinvestment Act (CRA); fair lending laws such as the Equal Credit Opportunity Act; and consumer disclosure rules for mortgages and credit cards.

Choosing and Contacting Interviewees

I would aim for two professionals with different perspectives, for example (1) a compliance officer at a local community bank or credit union and (2) a branch manager or commercial lender who sees how rules affect customers. Good ways to find them include LinkedIn, local bank websites, a college career center or alumni office, the local chamber of commerce and personal networks.

Sample outreach message:

Dear [Name], I am a student at [University] completing a course assignment on how government regulation affects business. Because of your experience in banking, I would value 20 to 30 minutes of your time for a brief interview, by phone, video or in person, at your convenience. I will not share your name or your institution’s name without your permission, and I can send the questions in advance. Thank you for considering my request. Sincerely, [Your name, phone, email]

Interview Questions

Industry structure

1. How would you describe the structure of the banking industry in our area: how many competitors are there, and how do community banks compete with large national banks, credit unions and fintech companies?
2. What role does your institution play in the local economy, and who are your main customers?

Specific regulations and their reasons

3. Which government regulations or agencies have the greatest impact on your daily work?
4. In your view, why were these regulations put in place, and what problems were they designed to prevent?
5. How did regulations change after the 2008 financial crisis and the Dodd-Frank Act, and how did your institution adapt?

Impact on operations, consumers and competition

6. How much time, staff and money does your institution devote to compliance, and how has that changed over your career?
7. How do regulations such as anti-money-laundering rules, consumer disclosures and capital requirements affect the products you can offer and how quickly you can serve customers?
8. How do these regulations protect consumers, and are there ways they make it harder for some consumers, such as small businesses or people with limited credit history, to get loans?
9. Do regulations affect large banks and small banks differently? Have they influenced mergers, closures or the growth of nonbank competitors?

Challenges and benefits

10. What is the biggest challenge regulation creates for your organization, and what is the biggest benefit?
11. Can you share an example (without confidential details) of a time a regulation prevented a problem or created an unexpected difficulty?

Suggestions for improvement

12. If you could change one regulation or regulatory process, what would it be and why? How could regulators better balance safety, consumer protection and the costs to smaller institutions?

Conducting the Interviews Ethically

• Explain the purpose and ask permission before taking notes or recording.
• Offer anonymity, for example “a compliance officer at a regional bank.”
• Do not ask for confidential customer or examination information.
• Send a thank-you message within 24 hours.

Analyzing and Reporting the Results

After both interviews, I would organize the report around the six required topics, compare where the two professionals agreed or disagreed and connect their answers to course concepts such as market failure, externalities, information asymmetry, consumer protection and the costs and benefits of regulation. For example, if a compliance officer describes rising compliance costs, I would discuss economies of scale: large banks can spread fixed compliance costs over more customers, which can encourage consolidation in the industry. I would end with my own evaluation of whether the regulations achieve their goals and which suggestions seem most reasonable.

References

[Your course textbook chapter on government regulation of business, in APA format.]

[Your two interviews, cited as personal communications in text only, per APA 7th edition: (A. Smith, personal communication, Month Day, Year).]

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