Black’s conduct does not violate Standard I(B), because a reasonable person would not call his independence into question, even though his ethics are suspect. Black’s supervisor should have asked Black where he got the information before the research report was circulated, and the failure to do so means that the supervisor violated Standard IV(C). Black is also clearly in violation of Standard II(A): Material Nonpublic Information, because he would clearly have known that the information received from his Brother was both material and nonpublic. However, Standard II(A) is not one of the choices. Black’s failure to follow his own advice does not violate Standard III(B). Ignoring all of the other details, knowledge that an earnings restatement is possible could certainly be considered a reasonable basis to dump a stock, so Black did not violate Standard V(A). Standard VI(A) pertains only when a relationship would impair investment judgment, and that is not the case here |
