Yes I am an investment banker- as far as how I got my shares -...

Yes I am an investment banker- as far as how I got my shares - they were purchased off market ages ago- before there were even 250m shares on issue.

Just more on Chinese walls in IBs:

Investment bankers and capital markets guys get to call listed company CEOs.

Research calls listed company investor relations. Listed Co investor relations calls the listed co's management team, and corporate council who determine whether information requested should be released, withheld or posted to ASX before it is released.

Trading gets called by brokerage (including prime broking) division and they don't actually call anyone except other trading desks.

Prime broking calls fund managers.

Personal wealth and retail broking calls retail shareholders.

You don't cross these boundaries unless you want to get fired.

If you a boutique broker, then you should pick which one of these "divisions" you will be in for each stock. I would also say that there does need to be much tougher controls over information flows in boutique brokerage houses as "soft" insider trading eg using stock as payment to bankers with inside information [eg underwriting agreements] is just too problematic.

If you are a broker and advise trades after a capital markets / M&A chat with the CEO you are pretty much toast. If you call the CEO as a researcher, then the CEO should be talking to you as a member of his company's investor relations team and sticking to non-material context to disclosed information.

[Arguably the CEO and brokers should agree a research and advice embargo, and chat to all brokers in one roadshow and then publish the information covered in the Q&A to the ASX prior to anyone trading based on the research material- The value in research cannot be the answers provided by CEOs but must be the industry context and analysis provided by brokerage teams (otherwise the researchers are really performing the function of disseminating inside information) - also it is this same industry context and analysis on AQC's prospects based on public information that you pay an advisory broker for.

The key issue regarding private chats with CEOs is you don't get to decide what is non-material context and what is new inside information. At first instance ASIC gets to decide this and a jury has the final say. If the CEO screws up and gives you new information- [including a more recent update or clarification of existing information and you advise trades based your private conversations with the CEO] then there is a problem.

You will need to prove: "I didn't know I knew anything new". Even if you manage this you will look rather stupid- hence rule 1: Avoid private chats with CEOs if you are advising trades in their stock