QUESTIONS 1 THROUGH 18 RELATE TO ETHICAL AND PROFESSIONAL STANDARDS

11. Robin Herring, CFA, is a government bond research analyst at an independent credit rating agency. A competitor credit rating agency just downgraded the bonds of a government Herring follows. Herring notes all of the information in the competitor’s report was covered in his analysis published last week. In the past, Herring has been slow to downgrade bonds, so he starts to doubt his own analysis after seeing the competitor’s report. Herring decides to reissue his credit rating of this government bond and match the competitor’s downgrade. In his revised report, Herring states that new information has been made available to justify the downgrade. Herring posts the revision on the credit rating agency’s website and provides it by e-mail to all clients who received the original. Herring’s rating change least likely violated which of the following CFA Institute Code of Ethics and Standards of Professional Conduct? A. Fair Dealing B. Communication with Clients C. Diligence and Reasonable Basis