Possible Topics for Learning Tea

Special Purpose Entities are widely used in business for both good and bad purposes. The following Team Activities are designed to help students learn about SPEs and how they can be used and abused.

Team A: Conduct research on the Internet to answer the following questions. 1. What is meant by securitization? How is securitization used to create mortgage backed securities? What role do SPEs play in this process?

Team B: Enron is well know for its abuse of SPEs. Conduct research to discover ways in which Enron misused SPEs. Be prepared to explain two or three examples of Enron's misuse of SPEs.

Team C: SPEs have often been misused to generate paper losses for losses for tax purposes. Conduct research on the Internet concerning such abusive schemes. Be prepared to explain two or three examples of such abuses.