Independence and Objectivity
A conduct standard requiring an analyst's conclusions to be shaped by the evidence rather than by what someone with a stake in the answer wants the conclusion to be. Independence is structural (no banking, lending, ownership, or compensation tie that pulls toward a particular view); objectivity is procedural (the same conclusion would be reached regardless of which side of the trade would benefit). Both are continua, not switches — and the disclosure block at the bottom of a research report is the firm's compressed statement of where on those continua the report sits. Read it first.
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Business · CEO Pay Ratio · Conflict of Interest · Explanation by Omission · Fair Dealing · Form 4
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