Example 1

You are an analyst for the banking industry. The head of investor relations for one of the larger firms in this industry offers to take you to dinner at a posh restaurant and discuss the upcoming quarterly earnings figures. He gives you with a titanium golf club as his limo drops you off at the end. He calls you the next day to ask if your report on his firm is progressing and indicates that there is a job waiting for you at the bank if you decide to leave yours.

First, the bank officer may have violated his fiduciary duty to his shareholders if he provided you with material nonpublic information. Regardless, you have been wined and dined and received a gift and a job offer from a senior officer of a firm you evaluate. Even if these inducements do not compromise your independence and objectivity, they may provide that PERCEPTION.

This violates the standard.