Acquiring Confidential Information

You are a senior manager in a major investment management firm.

Your employer, an international firm with a publicly stated commitment to the highest standards of ethical behaviour, is due to make a presentation to a major corporate client which, in the light of the recent pensions shocks is seeking a new manager to run its pension fund. Management fees for this activity will provide a lucrative return for the business of the successful bidder and a number of major investment managers have been asked to make presentations and recommendations for innovative ways of enhancing the performance of the fund.

Your firm is keen to win the mandate for the business and has committed considerable resources to its bid, for which initial presentations were held last week. Following the initial presentation, you learn that the proposal was well received and you are shortlisted against only one other major firm. Your bid team are full of confidence and report that the enhancements that they are going to make to their initial proposal will provide a knockout blow to the competitor.

Whilst, naturally, you are pleased to hear that confidence is high, you are surprised at the level of confidence and, also, that some of the proposed “enhancements” to your firm’s original proposal actually represent fairly radical change. Nevertheless, you leave the team to prepare for their final presentation.

During the days approaching the final presentation, you are conscious of a higher than normal level of tension within the bid team and, in an effort to ease the tension, you jokingly say to the young graduate recruit providing office support to the team that it is almost as though they have a spy in the opposition camp. “Oh, it’s better than that” he replies gleefully, “we have chapter and verse on their proposal, as they left their pitch book in the waiting room and we have given it a good home!” He opens his desk drawer to reveal the book.