Charles Chaplane, who is not a member of CFA Institute, is a senior partner of a small brokerage firm, Blue Moon Securities, which recently participated in a large stock offering. The offering company has been given an unfavorable recommendation by his research department due to the company's poor performance. Chaplane immediately calls his junior analyst John Blumenberg, CFA, and instructs him to upgrade his recommendation. Blumenberg comes up with a more favorable recommendation within a short period of time. Blumenberg is least likely to have violated the Standards because he failed to:

a) Avoid a conflict of interest.

b) Maintain independence and objectivity.

c) Update his recommendation in a timely manner.