Entrepreneurial Case
Carmine has been unethical in his conduct, in two ways. He has a duty of care to any potential investors to fully disclose all relevant financial information. His selective disclosure violates that duty. Additionally, he is intending to commit insider trading. His intent is to trade on sensitive information that has not been made public yet. It would be illegal if he does it, but even at this point his intention is unethical. Worse, he has essentially encouraged his father and uncles to commit insider trading as well. Should they go through with the transactions, they could face prosecution. It is unethical of Carmine to put his family members in that situation. They are not identified in this case as sophisticated investors. While Carmine may not have a legal fiduciary duty to them, he would still have an ethical one since he is in a position to know their actions are illegal and they are relying on him for advice.
It could be ethical for Carmine to pass along the financial information to the other investors. However, he must pass the information along in a public manner. If he tells them in the same way he told his father and uncles, this would still be unethical. If he makes a public statement regarding the upcoming profit, however, this would not be ethical because every investor would be on equal footing.
3. Carmine should publicly announce the profit expectations. As of right now, he has behaved unethically, but no real damage has been done. No crime has been committed. If a public announcement is made, then this would remove the possibility for insider trading. Carmine should make special point to ensure his other relatives are aware of the upcoming profit. But by giving guidance to the market with regards to the profit, he ensures that all savvy investors will have equal opportunity to take advantage of the opportunity. As a side benefit, he can probably increase the price of the issue. This will be more lucrative to the firm than the insider trading scheme as it will allow for stronger growth.
