Investor protection: merchant bankers must exercise due diligence, ensure disclosures and avoid conflicts of interest. Merchant bankers must protect investor interests by exercising due diligence, independent professional judgment and high standards of integrity; provide timely, adequate and non-misleading disclosures and issue literature; address investor inquiries and grievances; avoid, disclose and resolve conflicts of interest; maintain internal controls, supervisory resources and a code of conduct; and refrain from misrepresentation, unfair competition, market manipulation, passing unpublished price sensitive information and insider trading, with specific disclosure obligations when giving public investment advice.