Ethics - MNPI

Lynne Jennings is a research analyst for a large brokerage company following the chemical industry. While flying through Chicago, Jennings visited her sister who works in the airport hospitality center for an airline. Many meetings take place at the center on any given day. At the center Jennings saw several senior officers who she knows are from the largest and fourth largest chemical companies walk into a conference room. She concluded that negotiations for an acquisition might be taking place. She told her sister this, and her sister asked her not to disclose how she got the information. Jennings should: A) write a research report describing that she witnessed the senior officers together in the hospitality center, and must mention in the report that her sister is an employee of the center. B) write a research report mentioning the meeting but not disclose how she knew that the meeting occurred. C) not write a research report disclosing the meeting. D) write a research report describing that she witnessed the senior officers together in the hospitality center, but need not mention in the report that her sister is an employee of the center. ****************** Your answer: C was correct! The information is material and nonpublic, therefore, Jennings cannot trade or cause others to trade ****************** Is this MNPI because the meeting was in a restricted area (her sis has nothing to do with this) . If she would have seen the guys walk in to a hotel confrence room from the street and concluded that it could be for a takeover, would it be still MNPI? A possible takeover is her conclusion. She has just see a bunch of guys together and not over heard anything.

I would say C too but wouldnt have thought of it as material non public info - more like non material non public. Instead, there is no reasonable and adequate basis to use info and so i would just disregard it. But I guess CFAI doesnt agree!

also, didn’t she already violate the standard by telling her sister?

yeah, it is a bad way to pick stocks, since she is guessing a deal would take place, in any event, C makes the the most sense, other choices just look weak.