Q4. A firm produces regular proprietary research reports on various companies. According to Standard VI(B), Priority of Transactions, which of the following would be an “access person?”

A)    A supervisory analyst who reviews all research reports prior to dissemination.

B)    An independent auditor with access to material, non-public information on a company being analyzed.

C)    A person working in the mail room.

Q5. An unpaid intern at an investment firm has the task of photocopying unannounced investment recommendations after all regular employees have left for the day. With respect to Standard VI(B), Priority of Transactions, the firm:

A)   is probably violating the Standard.

B)   cannot be in violation because Standard VI(B) does not address this issue.

C)   is acting appropriately by having an unpaid intern do the job.

Q6. An analyst likes to trade options in her own account. She does not deem any of her client accounts suitable for option trading. When she finds a favorable options position, in accordance to Standard VI(B), Priority of Transactions, she should:

A)   first tell her clients about it before acting herself.

B)   refrain from acting until she notifies her supervisor.

C)   act on it on her own behalf as she sees fit.

Q7. An analyst routinely has the opportunity to offer his clients the opportunity to purchase “hot new issues.” He tells his clients that he will distribute each issue equally among those interested, with himself included in the distribution. The clients do not object to this. With respect to Standard VI(B), Priority of Transactions, this:

A)   cannot be a violation because the clients know of the practice and agree.

B)   may be a violation because it is impossible to distribute hot new issues equally.

C)   may be a violation despite the clients' approval.

答案和详解如下：

Q4. A firm produces regular proprietary research reports on various companies. According to Standard VI(B), Priority of Transactions, which of the following would be an “access person?”

A)    A supervisory analyst who reviews all research reports prior to dissemination.

B)    An independent auditor with access to material, non-public information on a company being analyzed.

C)    A person working in the mail room.

Correct answer is A)

Persons with access to information during the normal preparation of research recommendations are subject to Standard VI(B). An independent auditor is not involved in the normal preparation of research recommendations.

Q5. An unpaid intern at an investment firm has the task of photocopying unannounced investment recommendations after all regular employees have left for the day. With respect to Standard VI(B), Priority of Transactions, the firm:

A)   is probably violating the Standard.

B)   cannot be in violation because Standard VI(B) does not address this issue.

C)   is acting appropriately by having an unpaid intern do the job.

Correct answer is A)

Among other things, Standard VI(B) covers how the firm keeps unannounced information confidential. At a minimum, the intern should be supervised by someone familiar with the Code and Standards. The firm needs to have adequate procedures for preventing the dissemination of information before it is released to the public. One method of doing so is to limit the number of access persons privy to confidential information. An intern should not be an access person.

Q6. An analyst likes to trade options in her own account. She does not deem any of her client accounts suitable for option trading. When she finds a favorable options position, in accordance to Standard VI(B), Priority of Transactions, she should:

A)   first tell her clients about it before acting herself.

B)   refrain from acting until she notifies her supervisor.

C)   act on it on her own behalf as she sees fit.

Correct answer is C)         

This is not a violation of Standard VI(B), Priority of Transactions, because the investment is not suitable for her clients. If the analyst believes that none of her clients should trade options, she is not obligated to advise them in this instance.

Q7. An analyst routinely has the opportunity to offer his clients the opportunity to purchase “hot new issues.” He tells his clients that he will distribute each issue equally among those interested, with himself included in the distribution. The clients do not object to this. With respect to Standard VI(B), Priority of Transactions, this:

A)   cannot be a violation because the clients know of the practice and agree.

B)   may be a violation because it is impossible to distribute hot new issues equally.

C)   may be a violation despite the clients' approval.

Correct answer is C)         

Just because the clients know of a practice does not make it right. The analyst must put the clients first. It is a violation for the analyst to participate in a “hot new issue” which can lower the allocation to any given client below what that client would prefer. This is tantamount to putting the analyst’s interests ahead of the clients’ interests.