Ethics Book Soft
Ethics Book Soft
Ethics Book Soft
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Ethics and Trust in the Investment Profession
Study Guide
1 Ethics and Trust in the Investment Profession
The investment services market will not always have a specific law or regulatory mandate
applicable to rapidly changing products, services, and situations. In order for investors to trust you
with their money, they must believe that you and your company are reliable based on ethical and
transparent business practices.
Investors must believe that you and your firm will act in their best interests rather than simply
following the “rules” or trying to get around them. Toward that end, the investment industry—and
CFA Institute in particular—has adopted an ethical framework to help describe our role in the
profession.
Principles are fundamental truths that form the basis for a chain of reasoning leading to beliefs about
cause and effect and the way things should and shouldn't be. Beliefs form a system
of values describing goals or ideals that we have decided benefit us as individuals or society as a
whole. Ethical principles develop over time to guide our understanding of required, acceptable, or
exemplary behavior.
Investment industry professionals practice ethical behavior to benefit clients, employers, the
industry, and the investing public (i.e., society). Regulators and others exist to help police capital
markets. These groups are collectively known as stakeholders of the investment industry.
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CFA Institute's standards are based on the principles of honesty, integrity, transparency, diligence,
and faithfulness to the client's interests. CFA Institute members and candidates agree to follow its
Code of Ethics and Standards of Professional Conduct (Code and Standards). Together, these make
up the Standards of Practice Handbook. Members and candidates reaffirm their commitment to the
organization's values each year when they renew membership and sign the Professional Conduct
Statement disclosing any potential misconduct with regard to the Code and Standards.
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Situational influences appear frequently in our interactions with clients and elsewhere in the
investment industry. Large financial awards and prospects for prestige often lead to unethical
behavior. Even the mention of money can reduce the likelihood of ethical behavior.
Loyalty to our employer or team can result in less ethical behavior as we attempt to fit in rather
than rise above potential ethical violations. A good example of this might be when local financial
advisors encourage you to follow local law rather than the greater burdens imposed by the Code
and Standards. This social pressure can be a bigger motivator for ethical lapses than the potential
for large financial gains.
A strong compliance culture can become a situational influence if ensuring compliance becomes the
focus rather than considering the larger picture of potential ethical violations. An organization may
be so focused on being in compliance on a project that it fails to see the project itself is unethical.
These are cases where a strong compliance mandate results in leaders asking, “What can I do?”
rather than “What should I do?”
LOS 1d: Describe the need for high ethical standards in the investment industry.
Capital markets provide a mechanism for matching those who provide capital (i.e., investors) with
those who use capital (i.e., borrowers). Borrowers have various projects, each with a specific
projected return and risk of that return being realized. Investors have specific required returns, risk
tolerance, time horizon, and other considerations that serve as parameters for their investments.
Broad participation in the financial system is necessary to attract the level of capital required to
optimize current levels of economic activity as well as to provide infrastructure for future growth.
In order to achieve broad participation, capital markets must engender trust among both investors
and borrowers (i.e., market participants).
Borrowers trust that capital will be delivered as agreed; investors trust that their risk, return, and
other constraints will be met. Without this trust, capital will not flow smoothly, and results for the
economy will be suboptimal.
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1.6.3 Intangibility of Investment Products and Services
Companies typically produce something that can be seen, felt, heard, or otherwise experienced with
the senses. Investment products and services, however, are intangible goods that cannot be directly
experienced with the senses. Investors cannot hold their investment assets in their hand or hear
them perform as they can a cellular phone.
In fact, clients experience the quality of investment advice only as the numbers on a financial
statement. Investors must rely on what their advisors have told them about an investment and its
performance rather than experiencing it firsthand as they would with a tangible asset. Investors
must trust that the information they receive—before and after the investment—is accurate,
complete, and fair.
Ethical investment advice and reporting represent one aspect of enabling successful market
outcomes and thereby encourage the broadest possible investor participation.
Investment advisors personally connected with the unethical behavior can lose their reputations,
suffer diminished income, and even lose their jobs. In some cases, the firm will be punished with
civil penalties and those individuals involved will be punished with criminal penalties.
In some cases, laws are designed to reinforce behavior deemed ethical by society. Sometimes,
however, the benefit of having a law depends on a particular stakeholder's point of view. A public
protest, for example, may be illegal on one hand because it can block traffic and can lead to bodily
injury. On the other hand, it may be ethical because it allows freedom of expression to air
grievances and possibly incentivize better solutions.
The same types of situations occur in the investment industry. There may be cases where keeping
information secret benefits capital market participants but is against the law. As an extreme
example, a public company failing to disclose damaging financial information could be violating the
law, but may prevent a financial collapse.
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In unique cases, American jurisprudence will attempt a judgment in equity if a judgment in law
would lead to an inequitable result. The types of legal versus ethical outcomes appear in Figure 1.1.
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the stakeholder perspective. Everyone can know the law but may not reach the same ethical
conclusions.
LOS 1f: Describe and apply a framework for ethical decision making.
A code of ethics should set the tone for ethical decision making within an organization, but senior
executive behavior provides important cues that reinforce an ethical or unethical culture. Therefore,
senior management must demonstrate integrity in their actions in order for the entire organization
to follow the code of ethics.
A framework for ethical decision making should consider the effect of a decision on stakeholders,
not only in the short term but in the longer term. Such a framework not only helps the decision
maker reach an ethical decision, but makes it easier to justify a decision to the broader group not
directly affected, but perhaps indirectly affected.
Table 1.1 describes a very simple decision-making framework that can be applied to ethical
decisions.
The important part is not names for the steps, but that this is a process with multiple pieces, each
with multiple potential outcomes that must be considered.
Once the stakeholders have been identified, it will be necessary to identify the ethical duties owed
to each under the Code and Standards.
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At this stage, you should consider seeking guidance from those not affected by the same situational
influences and other biases. External guidance may come from:
CFA Institute Code and Standards
Company policies
Family members
Mentors
Your company compliance department
Outside legal counsel
It is important, however, not to engage in unethical or illegal behavior in seeking guidance. In most
cases, it will be necessary to consider information safety requirements such as internal rules and
procedures, legal and regulatory constraints on information sharing, and the Code and Standards.
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KEY CONCEPTS
LOS 1.a
Ethical behavior is that which conforms to set of rules and moral principles based on shared beliefs
about what behavior is acceptable and what behavior is unaccepatable.
LOS 1. b
A professional code of ethics is a way for a profession to communicate to the public that its
members will use their knowledge and skills to serve their clients in an honest and ethical manner,
and can increase public confidence and trust that members will act ethically.
LOS 1 .c
Challenges to ethical behavior overestimating one's own ethical character, considering only near
term consequences and not longer term consequence of behavior, and letting situational (external)
influence, such as peer pressure, unduly affect one's decisions and behavior.
LOS 1.d
Investment professionals have a special responsibility to use their specialized knowledge and skills
to both protest and grow client assets. The fact that investment management is an intangible
product makes high ethical standards all the important in the financial services profession.
LOS 1.e
Not all unethical actions are illegal and not all illegal actions are unethical. Laws are more specific
than ethical principle and often address prior unethical behavior. Ethical behavior requires more
judgment acts such as civil disobedience may be considered ethical even when they are illegal.
LOC 1.f
A framework for ethical decision making is designed to lead to better decisions by identifying the
stakeholders affected and the conflicts of interest among them, considering alternative actions and
the relevant situational influence on decision makers, seeking out different perspectives, and
evaluating decisions to see if they had unintended consequences.
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PRACTICE QUESTIONS
2. A code of ethics :
A. is a personal view of acceptable behavior
B. encompasses current "best practices".
C. specifics a minimum level of acceptable conduct.
4. Situational factors that influence ethical behavior are least likely to include :
A. a social pressure
B. large financial rewards.
C. a track of ethical principle.
5. Compared to complying with laws and regulations complying with a code of ethics :
A. is considered a lower standard
B. often involves more judgment.
C. includes compliance with all laws and regulations.
6. Employing a framework for decision making that include the ethical aspects of the decision is
most likely to :
A. lead to higher profits.
B. avoid any unintended ethical consequences of decisions.
C. balance the increases of various stakeholders.
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ANSWERS
1. ANSWER :B
Simply following all laws and regulations is not as high a standard as ethical behavior. Ethical
principle typically involve more judgment than laws or regulations.
2. ANSWER : C
A code of ethics specifies a minimum level of acceptable conduct for a group or organization,
whereas "best practices" are suggested behavior, not a minimum acceptable level.
3. ANSWER : A
A professional code of conduct communicates to the public that members have promised to
uphold a minimum level of ethical conduct when acting for clients. 'This is no guarantee that all
members will follow the code at all times. A code of conduct may include specific standards of
behavior or only state principles of conduct without specific standards or guidance.
4. ANSWER: C
Situational factors are those external to the decision makers, such as financial towards and
desires to please co-workers or others. Researches have found the external factors are often
more likely than a lack of personal ethics to lead to poor ethical decisions.
5. ANSWER : B
A code of ethics is considered a higher standard of behavior as it goes beyond simply legality of
behavior. Compliance with the ethical principles of a code of ethics often requires judgment in
balancing the interests of various stakeholders and consideration of short-term effects with
longer-term effects of decisions. Some behavior that is illegal, such as civil disobedience or
"whistle-blowing" is considered to be ethical behavior by many.
6. ANSWER : C
A decision -making framework that includes the ethical aspects of the decisions is should
consider the conflicts among the interests of various stakeholders so that decision makers can
use the company's stated ethical principles and their judgment to balance these interests in an
ethical manner. Profit maximization, at least in the short term, does not necessarily follow from
sound ethical judgment. While integrating ethics into the decision- making process can consider
and reduce unintended ethical consequences of a decision, avoiding them altogether can never
be assured.
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ETHICAL AND PROFESSIONAL STANDARDS
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LOS: 1.b Six components of the Code of Ethics and the seven Standards of
Professional Conduct;
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violation of the Standards and what is the best course of action?
Application
Since Local’s law applies, the more strict standard would be the Code and Standards.
Bill violated Standards I(A) and VI(B) by purchasing the IPO.
Jan did not violate the Standard because she did not knowingly assist Bill in committing the violation. Jan
should disassociate from the activity but is under no obligation to report Bill.
LS: country with less strict securities laws and regulations than the Code
and Standards
MS: country with more strict securities laws and regulations than the Code
and Standards
Member resides in NS country, does Member must Because applicable law is less strict than the
business in LS country; LS law ap- adhere to the Code and Standards, the member must adhere to
plies. Code and Stan- the Code and Standards.
dards.
Member resides in NS country, does Member must Because applicable law is stricter than the Code
business in MS country; MS law ap- adhere to the law and Standards, member must adhere to the more
plies. of MS country. strict applicable law.
Member resides in LS country, does Member must Because applicable law is less strict than the
business in NS country; LS law ap- adhere to the Code and Standards, member must adhere to the
plies. Code and Stan- Code and Standards.
dards.
Member resides in LS country, does Member must Because applicable law is stricter than the Code
business in MS country; MS law ap- adhere to the law and Standards, member must adhere to the more
plies. of MS country. strict applicable law.
Member resides in LS country, does Member must Because applicable law states that the law of the
business in NS country; LS law ap- adhere to the locality where the business is conducted governs
plies, but it states that law of locality Code and Stan- and there is no local law, the member must ad-
where business is conducted gov- dards. here to the Code and Standards.
erns.
Member resides in LS country, does Member must Because applicable law of the locality where the
business in MS country; LS law ap- adhere to the law business is conducted governs and local law is
plies, but it states that law of locality of MS country. stricter than the Code and Standards, member
where business is conducted gov-
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erns. must adhere to the more strict applicable law.
Member resides in MS country, does Member must Because applicable law is stricter than the Code
business in LS country; MS law ap- adhere to the law and Standards, member must adhere to the more
plies. of MS country. strict applicable law.
Member resides in MS country, does Member must Because applicable law states that the law of the
business in LS country; MS law ap- adhere to the locality where the business is conducted governs
plies, but it states that law of locality Code and Stan- and local law is less strict than the Code and
where business is conducted gov- dards. Standards, member must adhere to the Code and
erns. Standards.
Member resides in MS country, does Member must Because applicable law states that the law of the
business in LS country with a client adhere to the client’s home country governs (which is less strict
who is a citizen of LS country; MS Code and Stan- than the Code and Standards), member must ad-
law applies, but it states that the law dards. here to the Code and Standards.
of the client’s home country governs.
Member resides in MS country, does Member must Because applicable law states that the law of the
business in LS country with a client adhere to the law client’s home country governs and the law of the
who is a citizen of MS country; MS of MS country. client’s home country is stricter than the Code and
law applies, but it states that the law Standards, the member must adhere to the more
of the client’s home country governs. strict applicable law.
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objectivity. In this case, Tong did not violate the Standard because only chartered flights were available and
there were no other accommodations at which Tong could have stayed.
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negatively on the profession.
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Standard III.A. Loyalty, Prudence and Care
Standards
Members and candidates have a duty of loyalty to their clients and must act with reasonable care and exercise
prudent judgment. Members and candidates must act for the benefit of their clients and place their clients’ in-
terests before their own interests. In relationship with clients, members and candidates must determine applica-
ble fiduciary duty and must comply with such duty to persons and interests to whom it is owed.
Guidance
Members must identify the ultimate beneficiary to whom the fiduciary duty is owed.
Prudence applies the standard of a reasonable and informed person. Investment decisions will be judged in
the context of the entire portfolio.
Members must abide by the client guidelines or portfolio documents when managing a portfolio.
Proxy voting and soft dollar arrangements are covered under this Standard.
Question
Janet Turnem manages the majority of her firm’s discretionary accounts. Though the portfolios do not trade fre-
quently, her firm recently entered into a soft dollar arrangement in order to receive an extensive software appli-
cation that plays an integral role in determining asset allocation for the firm’s clients. However, she has been in-
formed that year- to-date trading has not been sufficient to cover the costs. She then trades in her larger ac-
counts more than usual in order to make up the difference.
Application
Turnem has violated the Standard because she is client assets (brokerage) to her firm’s benefit. While the program
is within guidelines of soft dollar arrangements and does benefit the clients, she has purposely traded the accounts
beyond normal parameters in order that her firm will meet the minimum commission levels to cover the cost of the
software program.
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Application
Abby is not in violation since clients have been treated fairly given that the information has been disseminated
prior to her call. She would be in violation if she called preferred status clients prior to the release of the informa-
tion. Providing additional services to clients paying premium prices is consistent with the spirit of his Standard.
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Standard III.D. Performance Presentation
Standards
When communicating investment performance information, members and candidates must make reasonable
efforts to ensure that it is fair, accurate, and complete.
Guidance
This Standard encourages full disclosure of investment performance data to clients and prospects.
This Standard prohibits misrepresentation of past performance or unreasonable guarantee of future per-
formance.
Members should encourage their firms to adhere to Global Investment Performance Standards (GIPS),
which are voluntary.
Question
Taylor Blynd claimed in a presentation that her performance complied with Global Investment Performance
Standards, with the exception that terminated accounts from 6 years ago were not included. This was the only
exception.
Application
Taylor cannot claim compliance because there are no exceptions to the Global Investment Presentation Stan-
dards; you are either compliant or non-compliant.
Standard III.E. Preservation of Confidentiality
Standards
Members and candidates must keep information about current, former, and prospective clients confidential
unless:
1. The information concerns illegal activities on the part of the client;
2. Disclosure is required by law; or
3. The client or prospective client permits disclosure of the information.
Guidance
When in doubt about confidentiality, members and candidates should consult with their employer ’s compli-
ance personnel or outside counsel.
Members and candidates are expected to provide confidential information if required by appropriate legal
authority, and to facilitate CFA Institute’s Professional Conduct Program investigation.
Question
Liam Dunn, portfolio manger at Wealth Advisors, knows that one of her accounts is interested in donating a sig-
nificant amount to a charity. As trustee of Give Children Hope, Dunn sends client some information on the char-
ity and a brief note describing her involvement.
Application
Dunn is not in violation of Standard III(E) since she did not disclose the information to anyone else. She pro-
vided some information about the charity based on the client ’s wishes and did not misuse her position or
knowledge since she had only provided information about the charity.
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Standard IV.A. Loyalty
Standards
In matters related to their employment, members and candidates must act for the benefit of their employer
and not deprive their employer of the advantage of their skills and abilities, divulge confidential information, or
otherwise cause harm to their employer.
Guidance
Members must protect the interest of their employer, but always place the interest of their clients above their
firm’s.
Members may engage in competitive activities with the prior consent of their employer.
Members may make preparations for leaving their employer on their own time while still employed, but they
must not misappropriate any company property.
Question
Robert John plans to establish his own investment management firm and starts the planning while still working
for his present employer. After he informs his employer of intentions to leave, he calls his largest accounts and
tells them of his pending departure.
Application
John is in violation of the Standard. While members may make arrangements or preparations to enter a com-
petitive business before terminating the existing relationship, they are not allowed to solicit clients while still em-
ployed. Robert is also prohibited from taking any client records without permissions from his employer.
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rules, regulations, and the Code and Standards by anyone subject to their supervision or authority.
Guidance
Delegation of supervisory responsibility does not relieve the member ’s burden, but shares it with the per-
son to whom supervisory responsibility is delegated.
Members that adopt reasonable procedures and attempted to enforce them may not be in violation if mis-
deeds still occur.
Members should decline to accept supervisory responsibility if no or inadequate procedures are in place.
Investigations must be prompt, through, and detailed.
Question
A subordinate informs Martin Stewart that one of his direct reports, Tommy Hilfarber, may be churning accounts
to increase his commissions. Stewart Thinks the accusation may be credible, but because the firm’s compliance
officer is on vacation for three weeks, Stewart decides not to address the issue until the compliance officer ’s
return.
Application
Stewart is in violation of the Standard. Once a violation is suspected, a supervisor must respond promptly, con-
duct a thorough investigation to determine the scope of the violation, and take action to prevent further viola-
tions from occurring. If a firm investigation must wait for the compliance officer ’s return, Stewart should restrict
Hilfarber ’s duties until that time.
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Standard V.B. Communication with Clients and Prospective
Standards
Members and Candidates must:
1. Disclose to clients and prospective clients the basic format and general principals of the investment proc-
esses used to analyze investments, select securities, and construct portfolios and must promptly disclose
any changes that might materially affect those processes.
2. Use reasonable judgment in identifying which factors are important to their investment analysis, recommen-
dations, or actions and include those factors in communications with clients and prospective clients.
3. Distinguish between fact and opinion in the presentation of investment analysis and recommendations.
Guidance
Any change to a basic decision-making process, the construction of portfolios, or types of investments under
consideration must be disseminated to clients and prospects immediately.
Members must outline relevant facts, including known limitations of the analysis, in sufficient detail that would
allow a client to challenge the conclusions.
In research reports, members must clearly distinguish fact from opinion and describe the basic character-
istics of the investment.
Question
Wenthru Capital decided to change their focus (style) to dividend-paying stocks after a sudden decline in the
growth-stock sector. They changed their marketing materials to reflect this change and the portfolio managers
slowly changed existing portfolios over to the new strategy. Clients who noticed the change were told of the new
format.
Application
Wenthru Capital’s portfolio managers and others are in violation of the Standard because they did not inform
existing clients immediately of any change to the investment process or types of securities selected.
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Application
Given that Ian is unable to obtain past records, he is prohibited by the Standards from using his past investment
performance. Further, given that he was part of a team, rather than being the sole decision maker, he should not
portray his past results as his own.
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ther advantaged nor disadvantaged. Ginny should have allocated shares to her grandparents’ account on the
same basis as the others.
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Never over-promise competency or future investments results.
You may indicate that you passed an exam on the “first try”.
No partial designation (i.e., CFA level II), or estimated completion date.
The reference “CFA” and “Chartered Financial Analyst” should never be used as a noun ( e.g., she is a CFA
Charterholder…NOT:She is a CFA).
Standard VII.B. Reference to CFA Institute, the CFA designation, and the CFA Program
Question
On a recent marketing trip, Adrian Choo described the rigorousness of the CFA examination process and that
the firm’s entire research staff are “CFAs”. Choo further stated that the firm’s CFAs passed on their first attempt.
Application
Adrian violates the Standard when he claims superior performance related to the entire research staff holding the
CFA designation. He also refer to them improperly as “CFAs”, because “CFA” may only be used as an adjectives
and not a noun.
Referencing the fact that all the charterholders past on the first attempt is not in it self a violation, as long as it is
true. However, superior ability cannot be attributed to this fact.
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ETHICAL AND PROFESSIONAL STANDARDS
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Ethical and Professional Standards
GUIDENCE I-VII
OVERVIEWS—
Los a Demonstrate the application of the Code of Ethics and Standards of Professional Conduct to
situations involving issues of professional integrity.
Los b Distinguish between conduct that conforms to the Code and Standards and conduct that vio-
lates the Code and Standards.
Los c Recommend practices and procedures designed to prevent violations of the Code of Ethics
and Standards of Professional Conduct.
PRACTICE PROBLEM
1. Member compliance on issues relating to corporate governance or to soft dollars is primarily addressed by
the Standard concerning:
A) Loyalty, Prudence, and Care.
can offer this security on a prorated basis to all clients for which the security is
B)
appropriate.
can only offer this security to clients for which it is appropriate on a first come
C)
first serve basis.
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4. The use of client brokerage by an investment manager to obtain certain products and services to aid the
manager in the investment decision-making process is called:
A) quid pro quo practices.
B) trading practices.
Portfolio managers of active funds must vote in all proxies; portfolio managers
C)
of index funds should vote only when they have a definitive opinion.
7. In the course of reviewing the Aetna Co., an analyst has received comments from management that, while
not meaningful by themselves, when pieced together with data he has accumulated from outside sources,
lead him to recommend placing Aetna Co. on his firm's sell list. What should the analyst do?
Show his report to his own manager and counsel for their review since this
A)
information has become material once it was combined with his analysis.
B) Not issue the report until the comments are publicly announced.
The comments are non material and the report can be issued as long as he
C)
maintains a file of the facts as supplied by management.
8. Dona Bouchard, CFA, is asked by her boss, also a CFA charterholder, to use a research report of a com-
peting firm, change a few details, sign it and send it to a large client. He says their firm's researchers will
draw the same conclusions but haven't gotten to them yet. If she complies, she is doing all of the following
EXCEPT:
A) complying with CFA Institute standards because she cannot disobey her boss.
obeying her boss, a CFA charterholder, but violating several of the CFA Insti-
B)
tute Code and Standards.
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C) violating CFA Institute standards dealing with plagiarism.
9. Alyssa Gagne has accepted a one-year gift membership (valued at approximately $225) to the Women's
World Health Club from a firm to which she directs trades. She has done so without notifying her em-
ployer. Which of the following statements is least accurate?
This is a violation of the Code and Standards but is less serious than an identi-
A)
cal case in which the gift was given by a client of Gagne.
This is a violation of the Code and Standards, because the gift is not a token
B)
amount.
This is a violation of the Code and Standards, because it has not been dis-
C)
closed to her employer.
10. While visiting the CSI Company, Butler Levesque, CFA, overheard management make comments that
were not public information, but were not really meaningful by themselves. However, when this informa-
tion is combined with his own analysis and other outside sources, Levesque decides to change his rec-
ommendation on CSI from buy to sell. According to CFA Institute Standards of Professional Conduct,
Levesque should:
report these events to his immediate supervisor and legal counsel, since they
A)
have become material in combination with his analysis.
B) not issue his report until these comments are made public.
issue his sell report because the facts are nonmaterial, but maintain a file of
C)
the facts and documents leading to this conclusion.
11. Carter Crudz is a partner in a money management firm. He recently attended a seminar and learned
about a quantitative model presented by Dixon. Upon returning to his office, Crudz began testing the
model and making a few minor alterations. He showed the model to his partners who were impressed and
decided to promote the model as proof of the firm's value added. In the firm's next newsletter, Crudz in-
cluded a discussion of the model, the results, and financial data on several stocks selected by the model.
These factual data were taken from Standard and Poor's publication. According to the CFA Institute Stan-
dards of Professional Conduct, which of the following actions is Crudz required to take?
A) Crudz must credit Dixon, no need to credit S&P.
C) is allowable but only if quoted verbatim from her conversations with management.
13. Cox Android works as a research analyst for Toby Securities. Android recommends changing a recom-
mendation from sell to buy on Alpha Company. His firm, which manages several mutual funds, may be
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interested in buying Alpha's stock. He also manages the retirement account that his parents established
with Toby. Android wants to buy shares of Alpha's stock because it is an appropriate investment for his
parent's retirement account and obtains approval from his employer to do so. Android is also thinking
about personally investing in Alpha stock. According to CFA Institute Standards of Professional Conduct,
which of the following best describes the priority of transactions? Android should give:
Toby's clients and his parent's account equal priority, followed by his employer,
A)
and then his personal account.
priority to Toby's clients and his employer concurrently, followed by his par-
B)
ent's retirement account, and finally his personal account.
Cruz must wait until after the press conference to disseminate the information
B) to clients, and Donald must wait until after the press conference to purchase
the stock for his clients.
Cruz must wait until after the press conference to disseminate the information
C)
to clients, but Donald can purchase the stock for his clients immediately.
16. Adward Long, CFA, manages portfolios of high net worth individuals for DFR Corp. Alice Thurmont, one of
his close friends, heads a local charity for homeless children that depends on donations to operate. Be-
cause donations have declined during the past year, the charity is experiencing financial difficulty. Thur-
mont asks Long to give her a partial list of his clients so that she can contact them to make tax-deductible
donations. Because Long knows that the charity provides much benefit to the community, he provides
Thurmont with the requested list.
Beauty Short, CFA, also works for DFR Corp. She receives a letter from CFA Institute's Professional
Conduct Program (PCP) requesting that she provide information about one of DFR's clients who is
being investigated. Short complies with the request despite the confidential nature of the information
requested by the PCP.
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Based on Standard III(E), Preservation of Confidentiality, which of the following statements about
Long and Short's actions is CORRECT?
A) Long violated Standard III(E) but Short did not violate Standard III(E).
B) Short violated Standard III(E) but Long did not violate Standard III(E).
continue to recommend that new investors do not invest in the fund and exist-
B)
ing investors reduce their holdings.
continue to recommend that new investors do not invest in the fund, but not
C)
advise existing investors to reduce their holdings.
20. Victor Logan is a portfolio manager for McCoy Advisors, and Glow Brisco is the Director of Research for
McCoy. Brisco has developed a proprietary model that has been thoroughly researched and is known
throughout the industry as the McCoy model. The model is purely quantitative and screens stocks into
buy, hold, and sell categories. The basic philosophy of the model is thoroughly explained to clients. Brisco
frequently alters the model based on rigorous research”an aspect that is well explained to clients, al-
though the specific alterations are not continually disclosed. Portfolio managers then make specific sector
and security holding decisions, purchasing only securities that are indicated as "buys" by the model.
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Logan has conducted very thorough research on his own, using the same process that Brisco uses to vali-
date his findings. Logan feels the model is missing some key elements that would further reduce the list of
acceptable securities to purchase, however, Brisco has refused to look at Logan's research. Frustrated by
this, Logan applies his own version of the model, with the justification that he is still only purchasing secu-
rities on the buy list. Because of the conflict with Brisco, he does not disclose the use of the model to any-
one at McCoy or to clients. Which of the following statements regarding Logan and Brisco is CORRECT?
Logan is:
violating the Standards by applying his version of the model and by not dis-
A) closing it to clients. Brisco is violating the Standards by failing to consider
Logan's research.
not violating the Standards by applying his version of the model, but is violating
B) the Standards by not disclosing it to clients. Brisco is not violating the Stan-
dards.
violating the Standards by applying his version of the model and by not dis-
C)
closing it to clients. Brisco is not violating the Standards.
21. Brian Williams is a portfolio manager with Santo Capital and works on the Banks Company's account.
Santo has a policy against accepting gifts over $500 from clients. The Banks' portfolio has a fantastic
year, and in appreciation, a Banks manager sends Williams a rare bottle of wine that he estimates is
worth $300. Williams must:
inform his supervisor in writing that he received additional compensation in the
A)
form of the wine.
report the pension fund manager to the CFA Institute Professional Conduct
C)
Program.
22. Glow Couture, a CFA candidate, is a telecommunications analyst at Parent Securities. Based upon his
analysis of Midwest Telecom, he changes his recommendation of the company's common stock from
hold to sell. Before disseminating his recommendation and the reason for the change to Parent's cli-
ents, Couture informs several portfolio managers at Parent, whom he knows personally own Midwest
stock, of the changed recommendation. Several days later, Parent communicates the change in invest-
ment recommendation on Midwest to clients known to have bought Midwest and those who currently hold
the stock.
June Black, CFA, is a broker at Parent Securities. One of her clients places a buy order contrary to
the current recommendation on Midwest. After advising her client of the recommendation, she exe-
cutes the transaction.
According to Standard III(B), Fair Dealing, which of the following statements about Couture and
Black's actions is CORRECT?
A) Both Couture and Black violated Standard III(B).
C) Couture violated Standard III(B), but Black did not violate Standard III(B).
23. Stephen Bolduc is a portfolio manager with California Capital and works on Johnson Company's account.
California has a policy against accepting gifts over $25 from clients. The Johnson portfolio has a fantastic
year, and in appreciation, the pension fund manager sent Bolduc a rare bottle of wine. Bolduc should:
Page 33 of 204
inform her supervisor in writing that she received additional compensation in
A)
the form of the wine.
work on the portfolio because she did not personally work on the portfolio
B)
when she was at Howe.
inform her supervisor that she cannot work on the portfolio because of a legal
C)
agreement, but cannot tell him why.
25. Ron Menard is an individual investment advisor in San Francisco with 300 clients. Menard uses open-
ended mutual funds to implement his investment policy. For most of his clients, Menard has used the
Baker fund, a small company growth fund based in Boston, for a portion of their portfolio. As a result he
has become very friendly with Barnes Champagne, the manager of the fund, whom Menard feels is
mainly responsible for Baker's performance. One day Champagne calls Menard and tells him that he will
be leaving the fund in four weeks and moving to San Francisco to work for a different money management
company. Champagne is seeking suggestions on housing in the area. Baker has not yet announced
Champagne's departure. Menard immediately finds a fund that is a suitable replacement for the Baker
fund, and over the next two days he calls his 30 clients with the largest dollar investments in the funds and
tells them he feels they should switch their holdings. Baker feels the remaining clients' positions are small
enough to wait for their annual review to switch funds. Menard has:
violated the Standards regarding nonpublic information but has not violated the
A)
Standards in failing to deal fairly with clients.
violated the Standards by not dealing fairly with clients but has not violated the
B)
Standards regarding material nonpublic information.
violated the Standards by not dealing fairly with clients and regarding material
C)
nonpublic information.
26. Longy Dupuis is an individual investment advisor with 200 individual clients. When she first obtains a cli-
ent, Dupuis solicits personal data that helps her formulate an investment recommendation, including tax
status, income, expenditure needs, and risk tolerance. The Standards:
require updating a client's data only when a material change occurs to the per-
A)
sonal data.
C) only require to update a client's data when a material change is being made to
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the clients' portfolio.
27. The following information pertains to the Galaxy Trust, a trust established by Stephen P. House and man-
aged by Beta Investment LLC:
At the time the trust was established House provided $5 million in cash to fund the trust, but Beta
was aware that 93% of his personal assets were in the form of Oracle stock.
Beta has been asked to view his funds and the trust as a single entity for planning purposes,
since House's will stipulates that all of his estate will pass to the trust upon his death.
The investment policy statement, developed in September 1996, stipulates that the trust should
maintain a short position in Oracle stock and use the proceeds to diversify the trust more ade-
quately.
House was able to sell all of his Oracle shares back to the corporation in January 1999 for cash.
The policy statement redrawn in September 1999 continues to stipulate that the trust hold a short
position in Oracle stock.
House has given the portfolio manager in charge of the trust an all expenses paid vacation pack-
age anywhere in the world each year at Christmas. The portfolio manager has reported this fact in
writing to his immediate supervisor at Beta.
Which of the following is most correct? The investment manager is:
in violation of the Code and Standards by not properly updating the investment
A) policy statement in light of the change in the circumstances and is in violation
with regard to the acceptance of the gift from House.
in violation of the Code and Standards by not properly updating the investment
B) policy statement in light of the change in the circumstances but is not in viola-
tion with regard to the acceptance of the gift from House.
not in violation of the Code and Standards for not properly updating the in-
C) vestment policy statement in light of the change in the circumstances and is
not in violation with regard to the acceptance of the gift from House.
28. Which of the following statements about a member's use of client brokerage commissions is NOT correct?
Client brokerage commissions:
A) may be directed to pay for the investment manager's operating expenses.
should be commensurate with the value of the brokerage and research ser-
B)
vices received.
should be used by the member to ensure that fairness to the client is main-
C)
tained.
29. Stive William is the new director of equity research for a brokerage company. He receives a call from a
reporter at the Financial News, a weekly publication that comes out on Mondays. The reporter explains
the relationship she had with his predecessor. They would share information that they both learned on
stocks' the former director would benefit the company's clients by news he obtained from the reporter in
exchange for information he gave to her. The former director could ask her not to publish any information
he gave her until after a certain date, ensuring that the brokerage clients would be informed before the
publication date. After the conversation, William called the former director, who confirmed that the reporter
was trustworthy with respect to honoring the agreement for delaying publication until clients have been in-
formed. Philips should:
not disclose any research even after it has been disseminated to clients re-
A)
gardless of the value of the information that the reporter may have.
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disclose research not yet disclosed to clients, as long as the reporter promises
B) not to publish the information until after all clients have received the research,
and the reporter provides valuable information of her own.
only disclose research that has already been disseminated to clients, as long
C)
as the reporter is providing valuable information of her own.
30. Which of the following would be the least important proxy issue?
A) Takeover defense and related actions.
violated the Standards by not including all of the relevant factors in the re-
C)
search report, but not by making patriotic statements.
32. Cox Anderson, CFA, writes an investment newsletter focusing on high-tech companies, which he distrib-
utes by e-mail to paid subscribers. Anderson does not gather any information about his clients' needs and
circumstances. Anderson has developed several complex valuation models that serve as the basis for his
recommendations. Each month, his newsletter contains a list of buy and sell recommendations. He
states that his recommendations are suitable for all types of portfolios and clients. Because of their pro-
prietary nature, Anderson does not disclose, except in general terms, the nature of his valuation models.
He conducted numerous statistical tests of these models and they appear to have worked well in the past.
In his newsletter, Anderson claims that subscribers who follow his recommendations can expect to earn
superior returns because of the past success of his models.
Anderson violated all of the following CFA Institute Standards of Professional Conduct EXCEPT:
A) Standard I(C), Misrepresentation.
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Tubbs finds the errors and points them out to Leduc. Which of the following statements regarding Tubbs
and Leduc is CORRECT?
Leduc has violated the Standards by not considering the appropriateness and
A)
suitability of the investment for his clients.
Leduc has violated the Standards by not exercising diligence and thorough-
C)
ness in making investment recommendations.
34. Katherine Boivin, a CFA charterholder, is preparing a research report on Gonzalez Company for her em-
ployer, Capital Asset Management. Stiven Cook, president of Boswell, invites Abbott and several other
analysts to visit his company and offers to pay her transportation and lodging. Abbott declines Carter's of-
fer but, while visiting the company, accepts a gift from Carter valued at $75. Abbott fails to disclose the gift
to her supervisor at Capital when she returns. In the course of the company visit, Abbott overhears a con-
versation between Carter and his chief financial officer that the company's earnings per share (EPS) are
expected to be $1.10 for the next quarter. Abbott was surprised that this EPS is substantially above her
initial earnings estimate of $0.70 per share. Without further investigation, Abbott decides to include the
$1.10 EPS in her research report on Boswell. Using the high EPS positively affects her recommendation
of Boswell.
Which of the following statements about whether Abbott violated Standard V(A), Diligence and Rea-
sonable Basis and Standard I(B), Independence and Objectivity is CORRECT? Abbott:
A) did not violate Standard V(A) but she violated Standard I(B).
C) violated Standard V(A) but she did not violate Standard I(B).
35. Jennifer Hamel is an individual investment advisor with 200 clients and claims she conforms to Global
Investment Performance Standards (GIPS). French includes all of the clients on her books. One of those
clients is her father, to whom she charges no fee. However, she manages that portfolio using the same
processes as she uses for her paying clients. Another client included in the composite is Johnson Stone,
a wealthy entrepreneur. Stone is the only client who does not give her discretion over the assets and
makes every decision himself, getting suggestions from Hamel and using her to implement decisions.
French:
A) conforms to GIPS, if disclosures are made about the non-fee-paying account.
has violated GIPS because it includes her father's account, but not because it
B)
includes Stone's account.
has violated GIPS because it includes Randolph's account, but not because it
C)
includes her father's account.
36. Kylie Adward is the chief financial officer and compliance officer at Advent International Investment Advi-
sors, an organization that has incorporated the CFA Institute Code of Standards into the firm's compliance
manual. Anderson Trader is a portfolio manager for Super Selection. Trader is friendly with Rosy Gomz,
president of AMD, a rapidly growing biotech company. Trader has served on AMD's board of directors for
the last three years. Gomz has asked Trader to commit to a large purchase of AMD stock for Trader's cli-
ents' portfolios. Trader had previously determined that AMD was a questionable investment but agreed to
reconsider. Her reevaluation deemed the stock to be overpriced, but Trader nevertheless decides to pur-
chase for her portfolios. Which standard was least likely violated?
A) III(B) Fair Dealing.
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B) V(A) Diligence and Reasonable Basis.
If Williams is not satisfied with the current target return, Johnson can always
B)
improve it by increasing his T-bills share.
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members of employees on an annual basis.
41. Andrea Goldy is an individual investment advisor who uses a computer model to place each of her clients
into an appropriate portfolio. The model analyzes a range of simulated portfolios and computes for each
the probabilities of achieving various levels of return. Young then selects the portfolio that provides the
highest probability of achieving the clients' minimum required return. By using this process, Young is:
A) violating Standard I(C) - Misrepresentation.
should inform her compliance officer that she has material nonpublic informa-
C)
tion on firms she covers.
44. Cooky Florid is an investment advisor who has a client, Hall Allard, who is an employment lawyer. At
lunch, Fox noticed Allard and the Chief Financial Officer of Blue Star Company at the next table. She
overhears them talking and ascertains that Blue Star is about to announce higher than expected earnings.
Before the earnings release, Gordon contacts Fox and asks her to purchase 3,000 shares for his portfolio.
Fox:
can purchase shares for Gordon, but cannot ever purchase shares for her per-
A)
sonal account.
can only purchase shares for her personal account after informing all of her
B)
clients about the potential of the increase in earnings.
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A) passed Levels I, II, and III of the CFA examination.
C) is a CFA in waiting.
46. Harris Hell is employed by a company to provide investment advice to participants in the firm's 401(k)
plan. Company stock is one of the investment options in the plan. Hell feels that the stock is too risky for
employees to own in their 401(k) plan and starts advising them to pull out of the stock. The Treasurer of
the company calls Drake and tells him that he will be fired if he continues making such advice because he
is violating his fiduciary duty to the company. Hell should:
make sell recommendations but point out that the company Treasurer has a
A)
differing and valid point of view.
Helssy is violating the Standards by using two investment processes that are
C)
in conflict with each other.
48. Claire Boivin is a money manager and the Blue Streets Pension Fund is one of her clients. The director of
the pension fund calls Boivinand asks her to use a particular broker so that the fund can obtain some re-
search services with the soft dollars from that broker. Boivin believes that the desired broker will provide
the same price and execution as the normal broker that Simone uses. Boivin does as the client wishes.
Simone has:
not violated the Standards as long as the research provided by the broker will
A)
benefit Blue Streets.
not violated the Standards as long as the research provided by the broker will
C)
benefit the plan beneficiaries.
49. Dan Stephen is a portfolio manager who is being sued by one of his clients for inappropriate investment
advice. The Professional Conduct Program of CFA Institute is investigating Stephen for the same offense.
Stephen settles the lawsuit with the client while the Professional Conduct Program investigation is ongo-
ing. When the Professional Conduct Program staff questions Stephen about the problematic investment
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advice, Stephen claims he cannot talk about it because doing so would violate the confidentiality of his
client. Stephen has:
not violated the Standards by executing the settlement agreement or by refus-
A)
ing to talk about the case with the Professional Conduct Program.
violated the Standards by refusing to talk about the case with the Professional
B)
Conduct Program, but not by executing the settlement agreement.
violated the Standards by executing the settlement agreement, but not by re-
C)
fusing to talk about the case with the Professional Conduct Program.
50. Gracie Hoolihan is an individual investment advisor who uses mutual funds for her clients. She typically
chooses funds from a list of 40 funds that she has thoroughly researched. The Burns, a married couple
that are a client, asked her to consider the Hawkeye fund for their portfolio. Hoolihan had not previously
considered the fund because when she first conducted her research three years ago, Hawkeye was too
small to be considered. However, the fund has now grown in value, and cursory research uncovers no
fundamental flaws with the fund. She puts the fund in the Burns' portfolio but not in any of her other cli-
ents' portfolios. The fund ends up being the best performing fund on her list. Hoolihan has:
A) violated the Standards by not dealing fairly with clients.
violated the Standards by not having a reasonable and adequate basis for
C)
making the recommendation.
51. Green Fow, who is an investment advisor, is riding in a taxi and finds a file of information labeled "Genco
Valuation." The folder contains a great deal of financial data, projections and nonpublic information con-
cerning the food products industry that lead Roth to believe that Genco will be worth 50% more than its
current stock value. Roth also finds some correspondence that leads him to believe that the file belonged
to Tom Hagan. Roth tries to find out where Hagan works so he can return the file. Roth can recommend
Genco to his clients unless Hagan works for:
A) Roth cannot recommend Genco to his clients at this time.
wait until the public announcement is made, then release a report explaining
B) that he believes the company will make the release date, disclosing that one of
the reasons for his opinion is Perry is a friend of his.
C) produce his research report in two days based solely on the official an-
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nouncement, not taking into consideration the information from Perry.
53. While having a conversation with a prospective client, Lolz Hokens states that his performance across all
of his past clients over the past five years was over 20%, which was 200 basis points higher than his
benchmark. He tells the client that while the benchmark may rise or fall over time, his excess performance
will remain consistent. Henry violated the Standards of Professional Conduct because:
A) he cannot discuss prospective future performance in any manner.
he cannot discuss performance without clearly stating that the composite does
C)
not conform to GIPS.
54. Loly Gorge is an individual portfolio manager who only uses mutual funds for her clients; she has there-
fore never created a portfolio of stocks. She enters an Internet chat room on investments and starts an-
swering questions about investments. She states in the chat room that she has a CFA designation. One
woman in particular is interested and questions her about the viability of creating her own stock portfolio.
Gates feels that this would be a mistake because she only has $150,000 to invest, and states, "I have ex-
perience creating stock portfolios, and it does not make sense to do so with only $150,000." The woman
she has chatted with sends her an e-mail and eventually becomes a client of hers. Gates has:
A) violated the Standards by soliciting business over the Internet.
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57. Amber Hamel is an individual investment advisor who uses mutual funds for her clients. She typically
chooses from a list of 40 funds that she has thoroughly researched. The Figgs, a married couple that are
a client, asked her to consider the Boilermaker fund for their portfolio. Hamel had not previously consid-
ered the fund because when she first conducted her research three years ago, Boilermaker was too small
to be considered. However, the fund has now grown in value, and after doing thorough research on Boil-
ermaker, she found the fund was by far the most outstanding large company value fund in her list of
funds. She puts the fund in the Figgs' portfolio, and in all new clients portfolios, but not in any of her other
clients' portfolios. Her reasoning is that her existing clients were comfortable with their current holdings,
and she did not want to risk disturbing their comfort. Has McCarthy violated any Standards? McCarthy
has:
A) violated the Standards by not dealing fairly with clients.
violated the Standards by not having a reasonable and adequate basis for
B)
making the recommendation.
All performance results that are presented must comply with the CFA Institute
B)
Global Investment Performance Standards.
The firm must comply with the CFA Institute Global Investment Performance
C)
Standards only if it states that it follows the Standards.
60. A company has a defined benefit plan that is currently under-funded. The plan sponsor has instructed the
portfolio manager of the plan to invest more aggressively to bring the funding level up to an adequate
amount. Which of the following statements best describes the course of action the portfolio manager
should take? The portfolio manager should:
not invest more aggressively because this is not the method used to increase
A)
the funding level of a plan.
not invest more aggressively since this may expose the plan to too much risk
B)
and may not be in the best interest of the plan's beneficiaries.
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C) invest more aggressively because his fiduciary duties lie with the plan sponsor.
61. Diana Rainy is an individual investment advisor who uses mutual funds for her clients. She typically
chooses funds from a list of 40 funds that she has thoroughly researched. The Cloudy, a married couple
that is a client, asked her to consider the Rainy fund for their portfolio. Westfall had not previously consid-
ered the fund because when she first conducted her research three years ago, Rainy was too small to be
considered. However, the fund has now grown in value, and after doing thorough research on the fund,
she finds the fund has suitable characteristics to be included in her acceptable list of funds. She puts the
fund in the Cloudy ' portfolio but not in any of her other clients' portfolios. The fund ends up being the
poorest performing fund in the Cloudy ' portfolio. Has Westfall violated any Standards? Westfall has:
A) violated the Standards by not dealing fairly with clients.
violated the Standards by not having a reasonable and adequate basis for
B)
making the recommendation.
C) violated the Standards by her policy on mutual fund and pension fund proxies.
63. Melissa Anderson, CFA, is making preparations to start a competitive business before terminating her
relationship with her employer, a large money management company. Anderson asks Danny Robert,
CFA, to consider joining her. In subsequent discussions with Anderson, Robert learns that Anderson has
not disclosed to her employer ownership of stocks that Anderson recommended. She also learns that
Anderson has used excerpts from research reports by others with only a slight change in wording without
acknowledging the source. Robert declines Anderson's offer to join the new business but does not disso-
ciate herself from the violations. According to CFA Institute Standards of Professional Conduct, which of
the following statements is NOT correct?
Robert violated Standard I(A) Knowledge of the Law, because she did not dis-
A)
sociate herself from the violations.
Anderson violated Standard I(C) Misrepresentation, because she did not ac-
B)
knowledge the source of excepts that she used in research reports.
Anderson violated Standard IV(A) Loyalty to Employer, because she was mak-
C) ing preparations to start a competitive business before terminating her rela-
tionship with her employer.
64. Stive Gravel is a portfolio manager for Campbell Advisors. Campbell has developed a proprietary model
that has been thoroughly researched and is known throughout the industry as the Campbell model. The
model is purely quantitative and screens stocks into buy, hold, and sell categories. The basic philosophy
of the model is thoroughly explained to clients. The director of research frequently alters the model based
on rigorous research an aspect that is well explained to clients, although the specific alterations are not
continually disclosed. Portfolio managers then make specific sector and security holding decisions, pur-
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chasing only securities that are indicated as "buys" by the model. Jones thoroughly understands the
model and uses it with all of his clients. Jones is:
violating the Standards in purchasing stocks without a thorough research basis
A)
and in not disclosing all alterations of the model to clients.
not violating the Standards either in purchasing stocks without a thorough re-
B)
search basis or in not disclosing all alterations of the model to clients.
violating the Standards in not disclosing all alterations of the model to clients,
C)
but not in purchasing stocks without a thorough research basis.
65. Hughes Devid has just been hired to manage a security analysis group for Aaron Asset Management.
Devid performed a similar function at another firm and finds the compliance system at Aaron inadequate.
He develops a system that he feels is appropriate, but senior management tells him he will have to wait
six months to implement the system. Devid should:
A) resign his position immediately.
B) protest in writing the delay, listing the potential dangers that can occur.
cannot answer the question, nor can she discuss potential future market re-
C)
turns with the prospective client.
67. Rango Ellis is a security analyst and visits David Dawson, the Chief Financial Officer of Edmonds Com-
pany. Dawson reveals a great deal of nonmaterial financial data to Ellis, data that Dawson routinely re-
veals to all security analysts who visit him. From this data and other industry information, Ellis conjectures
that Edmonds is likely to make a tender offer for another company in the industry, a fact that if true would
be considered material to the value of the company. Ellis:
should send a copy of the report to Dawson for verification before disseminat-
A)
ing the report to clients.
must not disseminate the information or use it for trading purposes until the
B)
tender offer is announced.
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allowed to trade in family accounts.
write a research report describing the possibility of a divestiture, but not men-
C)
tion how he learned about it.
70. Frudz Grandson, CFA, is manager of corporate investor relations for a high-tech startup, zippy.com, in
Boise, Idaho. Grandson learns that Larry Smith, controller, is altering the accounting records. Grandson
advises some of his personal friends to sell short zippy.com. This action:
constitutes the use of material nonpublic information and is a violation of the
A)
Code and Standards.
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Jackson did not violate Standard III(A) on Fiduciary Duty to clients because
she was bound by her fiduciary duty to AMD and its stockholders as a board
A) member. Therefore, when she reversed her decision to buy AMD shares for
Super Selection's clients, portfolios on Gomz' request, her obligation to AMD
took precedence.
disclose to his clients all matters that reasonably could be expected to impair
B)
his ability to make unbiased and objective recommendations.
C) make recommendations that were consistent with his clients' financial needs.
73. Random bought U.S. Treasury strips and over-the-counter stocks that did not produce income as sought
by his clients. Random claimed that his actions were justified because his firm's research department rec-
ommended the purchase of the Treasury strips. Also, he claimed the stocks that he bought were all in the
top-rated categories of his firm's research division. Which of the following statements best describes why
Random's arguments, in which he attempted to shift the blame to his employer, did NOT meet the re-
quirements of the Code and Standards?
Random misrepresented the basic characteristics of the investments that he
A)
bought for his clients' accounts.
Random did not use reasonable care and judgment to achieve and maintain
B)
independence and objectivity in taking investment actions.
Random's duty was to make only recommendations that were in the best inter-
C)
ests of his clients.
74. While copying some of her research materials at work, Andey Samsung comes across a few incomplete
research notes written by one of her colleagues. As a result of reading the notes, and without further re-
view, Samsung immediately changes one of her stock recommendations from sell to buy. Which of the fol-
lowing CFA Institute Standards has Samsung violated?
A) Standard V(A), Diligence and Reasonable Basis.
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75. Using as his universe all companies in the steel industry, Curl Anderson analyses the performance of
stock prices for the industry. He succeeds in developing a regression model with excellent statistical con-
trol measures. The extrapolation from the model shows low risk variance of the securities in this industry.
Without the inclusion of non-steel stocks in the portfolio, Anderson concludes that, based on these results,
every portfolio can use the steel industry securities to diversify and lower its risk. He persuades his clients
to change their current portfolios. Anderson states that, as the model's results show, some particular in-
dustries, such as car manufacturers, have underpriced stocks, and investors should take advantage of it.
Anderson has violated the Standards because he:
A) does not consider the suitability of the investment.
C) does not distinguish the opinion, based on his model, from the fact.
76. The DSF Company implements a new methodology for portfolio valuation that is licensed to them by ABC
Statistics. DSF complies with the CFA Institute Code and Standards by:
A) discussing the new methodology with the clients, in its entirety.
not discussing the new methodology with clients because there is no need to,
B)
as it will not change their risk and yield preferences.
discussing the new methodology with clients only when a change in the secu-
C)
rity selection process is involved.
77. Johnny Mcdonald, CFA, has a friend named Stan Green, a journalist at Investment News, a weekly maga-
zine. In one of their conversations, Green tells Mcdonald about material nonpublic problems at Bright-
star.com, a heavily traded firm. Green has written a special article about Brightstar.com's problems that
will appear in the next issue of Investment News. According to the Standards, can Mcdonald act on the in-
formation Green has shared with him?
Yes, Mcdonald can trade on the information but should ask Green to dissemi-
A)
nate the information immediately.
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no policies or procedures to discourage Grand and Parker from sharing information and is encouraged to
consider his advice on company ratings. Grand should most likely:
continue to consult with Parker on company ratings as the compliance department's position is
A)
that there is no conflict.
advise her firm to develop firewalls and protections to allow the different departments to func-
B)
tion independently and avoid talking with Parker about client ratings.
C) advise regulators of the potential conflict of interest and seek legal counsel.
SOLUTIONS
1. Answer : A
Fiduciary duty on issues relating to corporate governance or to soft dollars is primarily addressed by Stan-
dard III(A), Loyalty, Prudence, and Care.
2. Answer : A
Acme is in violation of the Standard concerning Fair Dealing by offering the client preferential access to a
hot new issue. There is no obvious violation of Fiduciary Duty, since there is no evidence that Acme is
placing its own financial interest ahead of the client.
3. Answer : B
Standard III(B), Fair Dealing, applies. When new issues or secondary offerings are available or are being
offered by the firm or if the firm is part of a selling syndicate, all clients for whom the security is appropri-
ate are to be offered a chance to take part in the issue. If the issue is oversubscribed, then the issue is to
be prorated to all subscribers.
4. Answer : C
Directing client brokerage for research and/or services is called soft dollar practices.
5. Answer : A
Standard V(A) Diligence and Reasonable Basis was not broken because Smithson conducted thorough
and diligent research. Standard III(C)-- Suitability, Smithson failed to consider the needs of his conserva-
tive and aggressive clients. Standard IV(C)--Responsibilities of Supervisors, Activision Partners didn't
have policies explaining how to allocate shares among clients.
6. Answer : C
Proxies for stocks in passively managed funds must also be voted. A cost-benefit analysis may show that
voting all proxies may not benefit all clients.
7. Answer : C
This is an example of the mosaic theory where separate pieces of nonmaterial information are pieced to-
gether to make an investment recommendation.
8. Answer : A
If Dona complies, she is violating Standard I(C) Misrepresentation, because copying the report is plagia-
rism. Dona should attempt to disassociate from any activity that she knows is in violation of the standards.
9. Answer : A
This action is clearly a violation of Standard I(B), Independence and Objectivity. Accepting a gift from a
non-client is a more serious violation than accepting a gift from a client (for which a compensation ar-
rangement would already exist), since the intent is almost certainly to gain influence over future actions of
the member (e.g., increased allocation of trades).
10. Answer : C
The use of security analysis combined with nonmaterial nonpublic information to arrive at significant con-
clusions is legal and is called the mosaic theory.
11. Answer : A
The Standards require members to acknowledge the author of a model, but members are not required to
acknowledge information from a recognized statistical and reporting service.
12. Answer : B
Page 49 of 204
Standard V(A) requires that a member have a reasonable and adequate basis before making an invest-
ment recommendation. Extrapolating on the basis of the conjecture of one member of the management
team, without independent corroboration, is clearly in violation of this Standard. She is also in violation of
Standard V(B) concerning the use of reasonable judgment regarding what is included or excluded in a
communication with a client or prospective client.
13. Answer : A
According Standard VI(B) Priority of Transactions, Android should give transactions for clients and em-
ployers priority over his personal transactions. Because his parent's retirement account represents a client
account at Toby, Android should treat this account just like any other firm account. His parent's retirement
account should neither be given special treatment nor disadvantaged because of an existing family rela-
tionship with Android. If Android treats his parent's retirement account differently from other accounts at
Toby, he would breach his fiduciary duty to his parents.
14. Answer : B
Standard III(B) Fair Dealing requires dealing fairly and objectively with all clients and prospects when
disseminating material changes in prior investment recommendations. Note that the standard requires the
dissemination be fair, but not necessarily equal due to the impossibility of contacting all clients simultane-
ously. A change of recommendation from buy to sell is generally material.
15. Answer : B
By waiting until after the press conference the information would then be considered public information
and can then be disseminated to clients and traded on without there being any issues of insider trading.
16. Answer : A
Long violated Standard III(E) because he did not preserve the confidentiality of information communicated
by clients. Short did not violate Standard III(E) because this standard does not prevent members from co-
operating with an investigation by CFA Institute's Professional Conduct Program. Thus, Short can forward
confidential information to the PCP.
17. Answer : B
Standard II(A), Material Nonpublic Information, applies in this situation. Standard II(A) suggests the use of
fire walls to protect the firm and to conform to the Standards. A fire wall is an information barrier designed
to prevent the communication of material nonpublic information between departments of a firm. Although
the fire wall system should provide a means to review transactions, it is not feasible to monitor all commu-
nications into/out of departments. Placing sensitive securities/firms on watch, restricted, or rumor lists
helps management target monitoring of transactions.
18. Answer : B
Landry cannot act or cause others to act on material nonpublic information.
19. Answer : B
The employees to whom Stephens owes fiduciary duty are the ones who are seeking his advice, even if
acting on that advice hurts other employees who might eventually become clients.
20. Answer : B
Because the research is thoroughly conducted, and Logan has authority to make individual security selec-
tion decisions, Logan is not violating the Standards by applying his model. However, Logan is violating the
Standard on communication with clients and prospective clients by excluding relevant factors of the in-
vestment process. The use of his model is an important aspect of the investment process and should be
disclosed to clients. Brisco is not violating the Standards by not considering Logan's research.
21. Answer : A
The Standards require that he inform his supervisor in writing about the gift.
22. Answer : C
Couture violated Standard III(B), Fair Dealing by not treating all customers fairly. Instead, he disclosed the
information selectively to some of his firm's portfolio managers. Black did not violate Standard III(B) be-
cause she communicated to the person placing a buy order on Midwest that the order was contrary to the
current recommendation before executing the order.
23. Answer : B
By not returning the bottle she would be violating the Standard on disclosure of conflicts to the employer,
which states that employees must comply with prohibitions imposed by their employer.
Page 50 of 204
24. Answer : C
Jason must inform her supervisor of the conflict, but she cannot violate the terms of the confidentiality
agreement and she cannot work on the portfolio.
25. Answer : B
Menard must treat all clients fairly in acting on the information, regardless of the size of the investment.
The information concerning the fund manager's departure is not material nonpublic information because
its release would have no effect on individual stock prices within the fund and thus should not impact the
fund's net asset value.
26. Answer : B
According to Standard III(C), Suitability, Members and Candidates must reassess client information and
update regularly.
27. Answer : B
The investment manager is in violation of the Standard requiring him to make a reasonable inquiry into the
client's financial situation and update the investment policy statement since such a dramatic change in the
client's circumstances would undoubtedly alter the investment policy statement and would probably elimi-
nate the need to hold a short position in Oracle. The investment manager is not in violation of the Stan-
dard concerning additional compensation, since the gift has been reported to his supervisor and has come
from a client. If there was a failure to report such a gift, if the firm had a rule in place against the accep-
tance of gifts from clients, or if the gift had come from a non-client, there would be a violation of the stan-
dard.
28. Answer : A
Brokerage commissions are the property of the client and may only be used for client benefit.
29. Answer : C
In no case should information be disclosed to a reporter before all clients are provided with the research'
doing so will violate the Standard on fair dealing. However, once clients have been informed, there is no
violation in releasing the information to the reporter, and in doing so William might obtain information that
can further help his clients.
30. Answer : B
Election of internal auditors is not a major proxy issue.
31. Answer : C
By not mentioning the increased risk of the market, Rousseau has violated the Standard on using reason-
able judgment in a research report. However, the patriotic statements do not violate the Standards.
32. Answer : C
Anderson did not violate Standard III(B), Fair Dealing, because this situation does not indicate that he
failed to deal fairly and objectively with all clients when disseminating his newsletter containing investment
recommendations.
Anderson violated Standard V(B), Communication with Clients and Prospective Clients, because he failed
to include all relevant factors behind his recommendations. Without providing the basis for his recommen-
dations, clients cannot evaluate the limitations or the risks inherent in his recommendations.
Anderson violated Standard I(C), Misrepresentation, because his claims about gaining superior expected
returns are misleading to potential investors.
33. Answer : C
Leduc had a responsibility to know the model well enough to detect the mistakes that could occur from
misapplication, so he violated the Standard of diligence and reasonable basis.
34. Answer : C
Boivin violated Standard V(A), Diligence and Reasonable Basis, because she did not have a reasonable
and adequate basis to support the $1.10 EPS without further investigation. By including the $1.10 EPS in
her report, she did not exercise diligence and thoroughness to ensure that any research report finding is
accurate. If Boivin suspects that any information in a source is not accurate, she should refrain from rely-
ing on that information. Boivin did not violate Standard I(B), Independence and Objectivity, because the
gift from Cook was merely a token item.
35. Answer : C
Page 51 of 204
Non-fee-paying clients can be included in the same composite as fee-paying clients as long as it is dis-
closed. Nondiscretionary clients should not be included in the composite as the clients would not adhere
to the investment strategy used by the investment advisor.
36. Answer : A
Standard III(B) Fair Dealing is not directly applicable to this situation; that standard prohibits members and
candidates from discriminating against any clients when disseminating recommendations or taking in-
vestment action. Trader has clearly violated standard III(A) Loyalty, Prudence, and Care, which requires
that members and candidates act for the benefit of their clients and place their clients' interests before
their own interests. Trader has also violated standard V(A) Diligence and Reasonable Basis, which re-
quires members and candidates to have a reasonable and adequate basis for any investment recommen-
dation or action.
37. Answer : C
Standard I(C), Misrepresentation, prohibits CFA charterholders from misrepresenting characteristics of the
portfolio or the services that the company can provide. The only statement that can be accepted as plau-
sible is that the securities were selected to minimize the risk.
38. Answer : C
Lang violates Standard III(B), Fair Dealing, which imposes the requirement to start trading on the clients'
portfolios only after the information is disseminated to all clients.
39. Answer : C
These actions are in accordance with both Standards III(B), Fair Dealing, and VI(B), Priority of Transac-
tions. There is no violation.
40. Answer : C
Members and Candidates are not required to disclose investment holdings of friends unless those hold-
ings create a conflict of interest.
41. Answer : C
Standard III(C) Suitability requires that Goldy select investments that are consistent with clients' risk and
return objectives. However risk tolerance is not adequately addressed by Goldy's process.
42. Answer : C
Gravel has some doubts but does not initiate any action presuming they only apply to the publicly dis-
closed report. The lack of action is a violation of Standard I(A), Knowledge of the Law. He also violates
Standard I(C), Misrepresentation, by failing to properly disclose the sources of his information, where
necessary.
43. Answer : B
The fact that the company officers met is not material nonpublic information. As long as she bases her in-
vestment recommendation on her own independent research, Devis will not violate any Standards if she
uses this additional information to support it.
44. Answer : C
According to Standard II(A), Material Nonpublic Information, Florid cannot act or cause others to act on
material nonpublic information until the information is made public. The information overheard at lunch
was material and nonpublic; therefore, Florid must wait until the information is made public before accept-
ing Allard's order.
45. Answer : A
A candidate cannot use any form of the CFA designation until receiving her charter.
46. Answer : B
Although Hell is paid by the company, his fiduciary duty is to the plan participants. His advice cannot be
compromised by business considerations, otherwise he will be violating the Standard on loyalty, pru-
dence, and care.
47. Answer : A
Soprano is violating the Standard on portfolio investment recommendations and actions by excluding
relevant factors of the investment process. The fundamental research aspect is highly relevant to the
process and should be disclosed to clients. It is acceptable for Helssy to use two investment processes
that may be in conflict with each other and to use a process that was not developed by her.
48. Answer : C
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Boivin must ensure that the research benefits the parties to whom she owes fiduciary duty, which are the
plan participants.
49. Answer : B
Because the Professional Conduct Program will maintain client confidentiality, Standard III(E) Preserva-
tion of Confidentiality does not permit members to refuse to cooperate with a PCP investigation because
of confidentiality concerns. The Standards do not require members to delay dealing with related legal mat-
ters while a PCP investigation is in progress.
50. Answer : C
Despite the fact the addition of the fund was successful, Hoolihan acted improperly in not conducting the
same degree of research as she did for the other funds on her list.
51. Answer : A
The information is material and nonpublic; therefore, Fow cannot act or cause others to act at this time.
52. Answer : B
The research report cannot be released until the official announcement is made, otherwise he will be vio-
lating the Standard on prohibition against the use of material nonpublic information. Once it is made pub-
lic, Miller can disclose the nature of the conversation without violating that Standard because the informa-
tion will now be public. However, he should disclose the relationship with Perry or he will be violating the
Standard on communications with clients and prospective clients.
53. Answer : B
Guaranteeing performance on investments that are inherently volatile is misleading to clients.
54. Answer : C
One cannot misrepresent their experience, even over the Internet.
55. Answer : A
Howard violated Standard of Professional Conduct III(D) by using only one portfolio's results to create a
false impression of all the portfolios, and Howard violated Standard of Professional Conduct I(C) by creat-
ing the impression that a certain return was assured (he should have used the words might or could
instead of can).
56. Answer : B
According to Standard II(A), a member or candidate must not act or cause others to act on material non-
public information until that same information is made public. In both cases, the information was material
nonpublic information; therefore, both West and South are in violation.
57. Answer : A
The fund should have been considered for the existing clients' portfolios. There may have been reasons
not to add the fund to their portfolios, such as tax consequences or a lack of suitability, but disturbing their
comfort is not sufficient.
58. Answer : A
The ad hoc model is not part of the formal research process and does not formulate an adequate basis for
a recommendation.
59. Answer : C
Global Investment Performance Standards (GIPS) are the best way to comply with the Standard on per-
formance presentation; however, adoption of GIPS is voluntary.
60. Answer : B
Standard III(A), Loyalty, Prudence, and Care, applies in this situation. According to this Standard, invest-
ment actions should be carried out for the sole benefit of the client and in a manner the manager believes
to be in the best interest of the client. Here, the client is the plan beneficiaries, not the manager or the en-
tity that hired the manager.
61. Answer : C
Because Rainy performed the same degree of research as she did for the other funds on her list, she pro-
vided a reasonable and adequate basis for her recommendation. There is not enough information given
about the Rainy fund and how it fits in with the other funds on Rainy's list to determine whether or not the
standard on Fair Dealing was broken. It was the Cloudy who wanted the Rainy fund and Rainy found it to
be acceptable for them and thus added it to her list of acceptable funds. If the Rainy fund was found to
possess unique characteristics that were not found in any of the other funds on Rainy's list and the Rainy
Page 53 of 204
fund was suitable for some of Rainy's other clients and Rainy hadn't added it to their portfolios after their
periodic review then a violation of fair dealing would have occurred.
62. Answer : C
Proxies should be taken seriously, and although it is likely that Griffith can understand some of the issues,
it is likely that she is not capable of making responsible decisions on all potential proxy issues. Proxies for
a pension plan should be voted in the best interests of the beneficiaries, not the plan sponsor. The spon-
sor's interests will not always be the same as the beneficiary's interest.
63. Answer : C
Goldy did not violate Standard IV(A) Loyalty to Employer because such preparations are permitted pro-
vided that they do not breach Goldy's duty of loyalty to her employer. Breaches that would violate Stan-
dard IV(A) include soliciting clients or taking records or files while still working for the current employer.
64. Answer : B
Gravel and Campbell are using reasonable judgment in not continually disclosing all of the alterations of
the model. It is acceptable to use a pure quantitative model as a sole basis for purchasing stocks, as long
as it is thoroughly researched.
65. Answer : C
According to the Standard on supervisory responsibilities, Devid should decline in writing to accept super-
visory responsibility until a satisfactory compliance system is put into place.
66. Answer : B
Any discussion of past performance would imply that Allard had made some calculations, which would be
misleading. However, Allard need not calculate historical performance to be an advisor. She can also talk
about her view on the future of capital markets.
67. Answer : C
While the information that Ellis received from the Edmonds CEO may be non-public, we are also told that
it is non-material. Because Ellis has reached his investment conclusion through an analysis of public in-
formation together with items of non-material non-public information (ie. mosaic theory ), publishing this
conclusion is not a violation of the Code and Standards.
68. Answer : C
Standard VI(B) Priority of Transactions. Family accounts that are client accounts should be treated like
any other firm accounts. Lorial should refrain from exercising excess caution since his mother is a client of
the firm like all other clients.
69. Answer : B
The information is material and nonpublic; therefore, Willstone cannot trade or cause others to trade on
the information. Any action concerning the information would violate the Standard on material nonpublic
information.
70. Answer : A
The information is apparently nonpublic, and is clearly material since the valuation of securities in the
market place is predicated upon financial data and other relevant information. Trading or inducing others
to trade is a clear violation of Standard II(A).
71. Answer : A
Jackson has violated Standard III(A) because her first obligation is to her firm's clients. Standard VI(A)
addresses precisely these kinds of situations regarding potential conflict of interest. Given this conflict of
interest, Jackson also compromised her objectivity in violation of Standard I(B). Her fiduciary duty to her
clients takes precedence over her fiduciary duty to AMD's stockholders under the CFA Institute Code and
Standards. By not disclosing her relationship with AMD, she also violated Standard IV(B). Making past
personal security transactions ahead of purchase of the same securities for her clients has put Jackson in
violation of Standard VI(B). This standard clearly prohibits such actions.
72. Answer : C
Random did not fulfill the obligation he assumed when he agreed to counsel these clients. That is, he did
not make recommendations that were consistent with their financial needs. According to Standard III(C),
Suitability, Random must consider the appropriateness and suitability of investment recommendations or
Page 54 of 204
actions for each portfolio or client. This is true even if his clients wanted to speculate and were aware of
the risks.
73. Answer : C
Random cannot shift the blame to his employer. He had an obligation to consider not only his firm's rec-
ommendations, but also his clients' investment objectives and financial situations. He failed to consider
relevant factors relating to his clients. Random violated Standard III(C) because he initiated investment
actions without properly considering whether these actions were suitable to his clients' financial situations
and investment objectives.
74. Answer : A
Gravel has violated Standard V(A) by failing to exercise diligence and thoroughness.
75. Answer : C
While any of the answers can be shown to violate CFA Institute Standards, this cannot be determined
conclusively from the information given. However, the scenario clearly indicates that Anderson does not
distinguish between opinion and fact in communicating to his clients. Therefore, he violates the Standards
on this basis.
76. Answer : A
Standard V(B), Communication with Clients and Prospects, requires any change in the scope, valuation
methodology, or focus of the portfolio to be discussed with clients.
77. Answer : B
Mcdonald cannot trade on the information before the article is published. Trading on the information re-
ceived from the journalist before the magazine is published is trading on material nonpublic information, a
breach of Standard II(A).
78. Answer : C
The rules should contain a formal value limit based on local customs. Not all types of business entertain-
ment are forbidden. Only business entertainment which is intended to influence or reward members and
candidates should be avoided.
79. Answer : B
Grand should advise her firm to develop firewalls and protections to allow the different departments to
function independently. If Grand and Walker are going to remain friends, they should stop talking about
client ratings.
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PROFESSIONALISM
Overviews—
PRACTICE PROBLEM
1. Devid Jakson, CFA, suspected that her intern, who was working without pay at her brokerage firm, had
violated a federal securities regulation. Jakson discussed the matter with her company's legal counsel
who said that the intern's conduct was illegal. According to the CFA Institute Code and Standards of Pro-
fessional Conduct, Jakson can dissociate herself from this illegal activity by:
A) reporting the activity to the appropriate authorities.
is held responsible for participating in illegal acts when the law is evident to anyone knowing the
B) law and is held responsible for violations by others when the analyst is unaware of the facts giving
rise to the violation.
must report all legal violations to the proper regulatory commission and is held responsible for par-
C)
ticipating in illegal acts when the law is evident to anyone knowing the law.
3. Robart Maxx, a CFA Institute member, resides in Country L, where the securities laws and regulations are
less strict than the CFA Institute Code and Standards. Maxx also does business in Country N, which has
no securities laws or regulations. Thus, Country N has no laws prohibiting the use of material nonpublic
information. Maxx has clients in both Country L and N. Country L's law states that the law of the locality
where business is conducted governs. According to CFA Institute Standards of Professional Conduct
about the use of material nonpublic information, Maxx may:
take investment action based on this information for clients in both Country N and Country L and for
A)
himself.
take investment action based on this information only for his clients in Country N but not for his cli-
B)
ents in Country L or himself.
Page 56 of 204
C) not take investment action on the basis of this information.
4. Macknax Leo, a CFA charterholder, is an investment analyst for a small stock brokerage firm. He wants to
acquire and maintain knowledge about applicable laws, rules, and regulations relating to his professional
activities. According to the CFA Institute Standards of Professional Conduct, which of the following ways
is least likely to meet compliance procedures?
A) Rely on past practices followed within his firm.
Page 57 of 204
latory agency.
A member who trades securities in a foreign securities market where no applicable local laws or
B) stock exchange rules regulate the use of material nonpublic information may take investment ac-
tion based on this information.
In the absence of specific applicable law or other regulatory requirements, the Code and Standards
C)
govern the member's actions.
10. Brown Jonny, CFA, is an outside board member of Atlantic Technologies, but is not paid by the firm for his
services. An employee at Atlantic informs Jonny that Atlantic has improperly timed the booking of con-
tracts to achieve the desired quarterly financial results. The misleading financial statements would turn
losses into profits. Jonny confers with the firm's legal counsel who indicates that this conduct is, in fact, il-
legal. Jonny urges Sharon Browny, Atlantic's chief operating executive, to change the financial state-
ments, but she refuses to do so. According to CFA Institute Standards of Professional Conduct, which of
the following statements best describes what Jonny should do in this situation?
Jonny should promptly disassociate himself from Atlantic's actions by
A) resigning as a director or by reporting the activities to the appropriate
authorities.
Jonny should wait until the next board meeting, which is scheduled in
C)
two weeks, to make other board members aware of the situation.
11. What is the rule of thumb for members, CFA charterholders and candidates in the CFA program when
weighing the requirements of the CFA Institute Code and Standards and the requirements of local laws? If
the applicable laws are:
A) more strict, they must adhere to the applicable laws.
less strict, they should make a judgment call on which to follow, the
B)
Code and Standards or the local laws and requirements.
C) more strict, they must still follow the Code and Standards.
12. Nelson Browny, CFA, is a fixed-income analyst who trades in mortgage-backed securities (MBS). The
MBS industry has seen sweeping regulatory changes since Browny took his current position, and he now
feels his underPowellding of applicable laws and regulatory Standards is dated. Browny must:
have all trades reviewed by his compliance department until he has
A)
obtained an expert level of knowledge in compliance.
Page 58 of 204
rely on his firm's policies and procedures for guidance on legal and
C)
regulatory Standards.
13. A CFA Institute member works for Secure Securities, Inc., and plays rugby on the firm's rugby team. Se-
cure Securities' team recently played the team of a rival firm. During the game, a fight broke out and the
CFA Institute member was the instigator, but no one was seriously hurt. Is this a violation of I(A) concern-
ing maintaining knowledge and complying with laws, rules, and regulations?
A) No, because a fight at a rugby game is not a professional activity.
C) Yes, because the member could have hurt someone in the fight.
14. Merry Scooty, CFA, is an analyst for Venture Investments in the country of Newamerica, which has laws
prohibiting the acceptance of any gift from a vendor if the gift exceeds US $250. Scooty has evidence that
her Venture Investments colleague, Sonio Martinez, CFA, has been receiving gifts from vendors in excess
of US $250.
Scooty is obligated to:
disassociate herself from the activity, urge Venture to persuade Marti-
A)
nez to cease the activity, and inform CFA Institute of the violation.
A member who trades securities in a country with less strict laws, rules, regulations, or cusTommys
B)
may follow those laws if he discloses this information to his client.
A member is required to comply only with applicable local laws, rules, regulations, or cusTommys
C) even though the CFA Institute code and Standards may impose a higher degree of responsibility or
a higher duty on the member.
17. Which of the following statements about the responsibilities of CFA charterholders is CORRECT? CFA
charterholders:
must comply with the laws and rules governing their profession and
A) must not engage in any individual behavior that reflects adversely on
the entire profession.
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B) are only obligated to comply with securities laws in the U.S.
need not comply with the laws and rules governing their profession or
C) must not engage in any individual behavior that reflects adversely on
the entire profession.
18. Lob Bluey, CFA, provides investment advice and other services to clients in several countries. She re-
sides in Country A whose securities laws and regulations are less strict than the Code and Standards.
She also conducts business with clients in Country B, which has no securities laws or regulations, and in
Country C, which has securities laws and regulations that are stricter than the Code and Standards.
Which of the following statements is CORRECT? According to CFA Institute Standards of Professional
Conduct, Bluey must adhere to the Code and Standards in:
A) Country A, Country B, and Country C.
trade ahead of her clients in Newasia only, as long as she has made
C)
full disclosure to her clients that she reserves the right to do this.
20. Benyy Homez, CFA, is licensed in the established country of Oldworld but has clients and makes invest-
ments in the emerging country of Newworld. The regulations of Oldworld prohibit licensed investment pro-
fessionals from taking gifts or gratuities in any amount from vendors or persons connected with potential
investments. The laws of Newworld are silent on this issue. Unsolicited, Homez is offered a vase worth
US $75 by a Newworld trust company and a bronze statue worth US $200 by a Newworld company that
Homez is considering as a potential investment.
Homez is:
A) not permitted to accept either gift.
B) use material inside information because Xania legally permits this practice.
C) use material inside information, but only after notifying CFA Institute.
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22. An analyst, who is a CFA charterholder, is working in a foreign country. Which of the following statements
is CORRECT? The analyst is:
covered by the strictest of the following laws and rules: his own coun-
A)
try's, the foreign country's or CFA Institute's Code and Standards.
B) Venezuela.
C) CFA Institute.
26. Shortly after becoming employed by Valco & Co., an investment banking firm, Powell MAX, CFA, learns
that most of Valco's initial public offerings (IPO) are really effected in order to profit management via price
manipulation of the shares. MAX observes an illegal act, sanctioned by senior management, in progress
and refuses to sign off on his responsibility. Instead, MAX takes the documentation to his supervisor and
tells him he should sign it in his place. This action is:
a violation of the Code and Standards since he is required not to knowingly participate or assist in
A)
such an act.
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an overreaction. Senior management's sanctioning of the act absolves MAX from his ordinary re-
B)
sponsibility as a CFA Institute member.
B) take no action.
his supervisor in the firm if he feels a law has been violated and con-
B)
tact the firm's counsel if he knows a law has been violated.
the firm's counsel if he feels a law has been violated and contact his
C)
supervisor if he knows a law has been violated.
29. Robe Advisory Services operates an office in San Franze, where it manages portfolios for its clients
based in the United States. The firm also maintains an office in Tokyo, where it employs Sam Lee, CFA
who researches Japanese stocks. According to the CFA Institute Standards of Professional Conduct, Lee
is required to maintain knowledge of and comply with all applicable laws, rules, and regulations in:
both the U.S. and Japan, but not the CFA Institute Standards of Pro-
A)
fessional Conduct.
both the U.S. and Japan and the CFA Institute Standards of Profes-
B)
sional Conduct.
Japan, but not the U.S., and the CFA Institute Standards of Profes-
C)
sional Conduct.
30. Fazz Yellow, CFA, CAIA, is an investment banker who is involved with an initial public offering (IPO) of
NewCo. Because this is Yellow's first involvement in an IPO, he reports to an experienced supervisor.
While reviewing past financial statements provided by NewCo, Yellow suspects that NewCo deliberately
overstated its earnings for the past several quarters. Yellow seeks the advice of his firm's highly compe-
tent general counsel and follows the advice given without deviation. Based on the general counsel's ad-
vice, Yellow consults his immediate supervisor about the suspected overstatement of earnings. After re-
viewing the situation, Yellow's supervisor explains why NewCo's calculations of its earnings are correct.
Yellow realizes that his inexperience and exuberance initially led him to an incorrect conclusion about
NewCo's earnings.
Page 62 of 204
Which of the following statements about Yellow's actions involving StandardI(A), Knowledge of the law, and
StandardI(C), Misrepresentation, is CORRECT? Yellow:
A) did not violate either StandardI(A) or StandardI(C).
C) should consult counsel to determine whether the conduct is, in fact, illegal.
32. A CFA Institute member is also a member and the portfolio manager of an environmentalist group. In its
charter, the environmentalist group lists a group of companies its members should boycott. The CFA Insti-
tute member would violate StandardI(A) concerning obeying all rules and regulations if the member:
A) purchases stock of a boycotted firm for the group's portfolio.
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B) No, because the member remedied the situation.
C) The profession.
38. For an employee with the CFA designation who works for a firm, which of the following is NOT necessary
to meet the requirements of the Code and Standards?
A) Deliver a copy of the Code and Standards to their employer.
C) disassociate himself from the case with a written report to his supervisor.
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40. CFA Institute believes:
that a Maximum level of professional responsibility and conduct dic-
A) tates that members be aware of and comply with laws, rules, and regu-
lations governing their conduct.
that firms should comply with all domestic laws and regulations and
C) that these laws also govern behavior in foreign markets, regardless of
foreign laws and requirements.
41. CFA Institute members should encourage their employers to do all of the following EXCEPT:
make clear that dishonest personal behavior reflects poorly on
A)
the profession.
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44. An analyst who is a CFA Institute member receives an invitation from a business associate's firm to spend
the weekend in a high-quality resort. In order to abide by the Standards, the analyst should (may):
refuse the invitation if the associate is from a firm he analyzes for his
A)
employer.
C) A ski-vacation.
47. All of the following would be permitted according to the CFA Institute Standards of Professional Conduct
EXCEPT:
air transportation paid by a corporate issuer for travel to a major met-
A)
ropolitan airport.
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allowed to accept the payment for transportation as long as it does not
A)
exceed $100.
allowed to accept the payment for transportation because the trip was
B)
all business and was out of the way.
B) if the analyst uses reasonable care and verifies that the technique pro-
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vides superior results.
is a violation because she cannot make statements like this under any
C)
circumstances.
56. Based on CFA Institute Standards of Professional Conduct, which of the following statements is a viola-
tion of StandardI(C), Misrepresentation?
An investment manager recommends to a prospective client an in-
A) vestment in GNMA bonds because they are guaranteed by the federal
government.
A young trainee bond trader tells a prospective client that she can as-
sist the client in all the client's investment needs: equity, fixed income,
B)
and derivatives and based on her years of experience as an analyst in
the business that an investment looks like it has lots of potential.
A broker says ADG stock is very likely to double in value over the next
C)
six months.
57. Which of the following is NOT considered plagiarism under CFA Institute Standards?
Improving an existing report and using it inside the company under a
A)
new title without acknowledging the source of the original report.
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edgement.
B) a violation of StandardI(C).
B) 2.
C) 3.
62. Maccy Ramonson, CFA, is an investment analyst. During a meeting with a potential client, Ramonson's
boss states that, "You can be sure our investments will always outperform Treasury Bonds because of our
fine research staff members, like Maccy." Ramonson knows that this statement is:
A) a violation of the Standardconcerning prohibition against misrepresentation.
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63. Which of the following would be permissible under StandardI(C), Misrepresentation?
Using excerpts from a report prepared by a well known outside re-
A)
search firm without acknowledgement.
Including a graph showing the Fed's discount rates over the previous
C)
12 months in a report that goes to clients.
64. At the time of its initial public offering (IPO), a mutual fund is invested primarily in junk bonds. As part of its
strategy, it is also invested in some zero-coupon U.S. Treasury bonds. The amount of the investment in
the Treasury bonds is such that their maturity value equals 90% of the current value of the fund. Which of
the following may a CFA Institute member say to her clients concerning the fund at issuance?
Since the fund is backed by the U.S. government, you know you will
A)
get your money back.
none of the Standards if Jonny does not make the cards public until
B)
after he defends his thesis and receives his degree.
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but without the qualifying statements that may have been used by the
originator.
B) only.
Page 71 of 204
A) in violation of StandardIV(A) concerning duties to employer.
B) Yes.
C) No, because the crime does not relate to the investment profession.
77. Which of the following does NOT violate StandardI(D), Misconduct? Roland Lawson, a financial analyst:
A) is arrested for participating in a nonviolent protest.
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candidates in the CFA Program.
79. Which of the following is least likely a violation of StandardI(D), Misconduct? Being:
A) convicted of a misdemeanor traffic offense.
C) convicted of a felony.
80. Which of the following actions most likely violates StandardI(D) Misconduct?
A Level I candidate is ejected from a hotel for attempting to pass a bad
A)
check.
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Conduct background checks on potential employees to ensure that
B)
they are of good character.
SOLUTION
1. Answer : A
Jakson can dissociate herself from the illegal activity by reporting the activity to the appropriate authorities.
However, the Code and Standards do not require that she report legal violations to the appropriate govern-
mental or regulatory organizations, but such disclose is prudent in this circumstance.
By transferring the intern to another supervisor this may not solve the problem of the illegal activity
occurring and the company would still be held liable for it.
2. Answer : A
If you suspect someone is planning or engaging in illegal activities, you should:
1. Determine the legality of the activities. Consult your supervisor and legal counsel.
2. Take appropriate action. Disassociate, attempt to persuade the perpetrator to stop. CFA Institute does
not require you to report them to the authorities, but the law might.
3. Answer : C
Because applicable law states that the law of the locality where the business is conducted governs and local
law is less strict than the Code and Standards, the member must adhere to the Code and Standards. Stan-
dardII(A) prohibits the use of material nonpublic information.
4. Answer : A
Leo should follow the compliance procedures under Standard IA -- Knowledge of the law. Relying on his firm's
past practices may be insufficient for Leo to stay current with changes in applicable laws, rules, and regula-
tions.
5. Answer : A
According to the procedures for compliance involving Standard I(A), CFA Institute members should determine
legality and disassociate from any illegal or unethical activity.
6. Answer : A
Cherry should report this information only to her immediate supervisor. Subsequently, she and her
supervisor may consult with legal counsel concerning the competing issues in this situation. For the present,
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she should avoid disclosure to colleagues who do not need to know the information and she should also avoid
disclosure to clients.
7. Answer : C
Members are not required to report violations of others to regulatory authorities, either verbally or in
writing, but such reporting may be prudent.
8. Answer : C
The Code and Standards do not require that members report legal violations to the appropriate gov-
ernmental or regulatory organizations, but such disclosure may be prudent in certain circumstances. Jhonson
should consult legal counsel and disassociate from the activity.
9. Answer : C
The Code and Standards represent a minimum level of guidance for members' actions, not a Maxi-
mum level. The key to remember here is that whether the local area does or does not have Standards govern-
ing member's actions, one must follow the stricter Standardenvironment.
10. Answer : A
Jonny should disassociate from any illegal activity by resigning as a director or by reporting the activi-
ties to appropriate authorities. Inaction combined with continuing association with Atlantic's illegal conduct
may be construed as participation, or assiPowellce, in the illegal conduct.
11. Answer : A
The rule of thumb for members, CFA charterholders and candidates in the CFA program requires that
they adhere to the applicable laws if the applicable laws are more strict than the requirements of the Code and
Standards. If there are no laws or the laws are less strict, they must adhere to the Code and Standards.
12. Answer : B
See StandardI(A) "Knowledge of the Law." Browny should update his underPowellding of applicable
laws and regulatory Standards relating to his position, although he is not required to be an expert in compli-
ance. Relying only on firm policies and procedures is not sufficient.
13. Answer : A
Powelldard I(A) covers members' professional activity only. Violations outside professional activity
that involve fraud, theft or deceit would potentially be violations.
14. Answer : C
Powelldard I(A), Knowledge of the Law requires members who have knowledge of colleagues engag-
ing in illegal activities to disassociate from the activity and urge their firms to persuade the individual to cease
such activity. Reporting to regulatory authorities may be prudent in certain circumstances, but is not required.
Reporting to CFA Institute is not required.
15. Answer : C
The last bullet point of the Code says that a member should œMaintain and improve their professional
competence and strive to maintain and improve the competence of other investment professionals. Ignoring
the neglect of rule changes of others would clearly be incongruent with this component. As long as the col-
leagues do not violate the laws, the member does not have to disassociate himself from the colleagues.
16. Answer : A
Members are always, at a minimum, subject to the Code and Standards.
17. Answer : A
CFA charterholders must comply with the laws and rules governing their profession and must not en-
gage in any individual behavior that reflects adversely on the entire profession. While they should act honora-
bly and follow U.S. securities laws, they are obligated to more than that, as set forth in the Code and Stan-
dards.
18. Answer : B
Bluey needs to follow StandardI(A) -- Knowledge of the law. In Country A, Bluey must adhere to the
Code and Standards because Country A's laws are less strict. In Country B, Bluey must also adheres to the
Code and Standards because Country B has no securities laws. Because Country C's applicable law is
stricter than the requirements of the Code and Standards, Bluey must adhere to the laws of Country C.
19. Answer : B
Under StandardI(A), Maria Kongi, as a CFA charterholder, must apply the CFA Institute Code and
Standards or the controlling law, whichever is stricter. Because StandardVI(B) requires members to put client
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trades ahead of their own transactions, Maria Kongi must follow the Standardin the absence of governing law,
or where the law is less strict than the Powelldard.
20. Answer : A
Under StandardI(A), Homez must, as a CFA charterholder, apply the CFA Institute Code and Stan-
dards or the controlling law, whichever is stricter. In this inPowellce the stricter laws of Oldworld, where
Homez is licensed, apply to prohibit the gifts, even though the gifts are offered in Newworld.
21. Answer : A
Because applicable law involving material inside information is less strict than the Code and Stan-
dards, Birds must adhere to the Code and Standards. StandardII(A) prohibits against use of material nonpub-
lic information.
22. Answer : A
The analyst is covered by the strictest of the following laws and rules: his own country's, the foreign
country's or CFA Institute's Code and Standards.
23. Answer : A
According to StandardI(A), Knowledge of the Law, members and candidates should not knowingly
participate or assist in any violation of laws, rules, regulations, or the Code and Standards.
When members suspect a client or a colleague of planning or engaging in ongoing illegal activities,
members should take the following actions:
Consult counsel to determine if the conduct is, in fact, illegal.
Disassociate from any illegal or unethical activity. When members have reasonable grounds to be-
lieve that a client's or employee's activities are illegal or unethical, the members should disassociate
from these activities and urge their firm to attempt to persuade the perpetrator to cease such activity.
Note: The Code and Standards do not require that members report legal violations to the appropriate
governmental or regulatory organizations, but such disclosure may be prudent in certain circumstances.
24. Answer : B
Brownywell violated StandardI, Professionalism. Jameson must comply with the strictest requirements
among the laws of the country where his firm is based, the CFA Institute Code and Standards, and the laws of
the country where he is doing business. Because the applicable laws in Mega Capital's home country are
stricter than the Code and Standards, Jameson must additionally adhere to that more strict law.
25. Answer : A
According to StandardI(A) Knowledge of the Law, CFA candidates and current CFA Institute mem-
bers must follow whichever law is stricter. In this case, the strictest laws are those of Belgium.
26. Answer : A
MAX, by his action in taking the documentation to his supervisor, is knowingly participating in and/or
assisting in an illegal act. This is clearly prohibited under StandardI(A), and he is in violation of the Powell-
dard.
27. Answer : B
Because Blue suspects Shanti of engaging in ongoing illegal activities, Blue should take action by
determining the legality of the suspected action, disassociating from any illegal activity, and urging his firm to
attempt to persuade Shanti to cease such conduct if such an activity is illegal or unethical.
28. Answer : C
Powelldard I(A) says that when a member feels a law has been broken, the member should seek ad-
vice from the firm's counsel. If the member feels the advice is unbiased and competent, the member should
follow it. If the member knows a law has been violated, the member should contact a supervisor.
29. Answer : B
To abide by the Standards, employees who work for foreign-based firms are required to apply the
stricter of the foreign (here, U.S.) law, the domestic (here, Japanese) law, or CFA Institute Standards.
30. Answer : A
Yellow did not violate StandardI(A), Knowledge of the law, because he sought advice of counsel and
followed that advice. Yellow did not violate StandardI(C), Misrepresentation, because he made reasonable
and diligent efforts to ensure the accuracy of the information and to avoid any material representation.
31. Answer : B
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Powelldard I(A), Knowledge of the law, does not require that Parsons report legal violations to the
appropriate governmental or regulatory organizations, but such disclosures may be appropriate under certain
circumstances.
32. Answer : A
Powelldard I(A) says the member must be guided by all applicable rules and regulations of profes-
sional associations governing the member's professional activities. Purchasing the stock for the firm would be
a violation because it involves the member's professional activities and the rules of a group to which the
member belongs and works for. Actively protesting would not be covered by that Powelldard.
33. Answer : C
Because the applicable law in Country L is less strict than the Code and Standards, Black must ad-
here to the Code and Standards. Because the applicable law is stricter than the Code and Standards, Browny
must adhere to the more strict applicable law of Country S.
34. Answer : A
Powelldard I(A) explicitly says that a member should maintain knowledge and comply with laws, rules,
and regulations. By not knowing of the rule, the member broke the Powelldard. If a CFA Institute member ac-
cidentally breaks a rule from a careless error and remedies the situation, this would not be a violation of Stan-
dardI(A).
35. Answer : A
Powelldard I(A) does not require a CFA Institute member to report violations to governmental or regu-
latory agencies. The other answers are appropriate actions.
36. Answer : B
Powelldard I(A), Knowledge of the Law. Prohibition against knowingly practicing or assisting in viola-
tion of laws, rules, and regulations. If Browny knows that someone has engaged in a possible illegal activity,
she should: (1) report the finding to the appropriate supervisory person at her firm, (2) if the situation is not
remedied, disassociate herself from the situation, and (3) seek legal advice to see what other actions, such as
notifying the proper regulatory agency, should be taken.
37. Answer : A
The Standards explicitly mention responsibilities to the profession, employers, clients, prospects, and
the investing public. The Federal Reserve is not mentioned.
38. Answer : A
It is no longer required but recommended that CFA members and candidates notify their employer
that they are required to follow the Code and Standards.
39. Answer : B
Holly's best choice is to seek the company counsel's advice. If Holly does nothing, he is breaching
StandardI(A) Knowledge of the Law. Disassociation is not enough.
40. Answer : B
CFA Institute's Code and Standards dictate a minimum level of conduct. Standards should not be
based on ethics of upper management and the board of directors of a company. Firms must comply with the
strictest applicable Standards, whether they be foreign or domestic laws and regulations.
41. Answer : B
There is no reason to have employees write personal ethics statements. CFA Institute encourages all
of the other actions.
42. Answer : A
Fridzz should decline the invitation as it creates the impression of lack of independence. If he does
not accept the free continuing education courses, he would have to pay for them some other way so the free
courses are a form of compensation. Nothing in the vignette suggests the free classes are illegal.
43. Answer : A
Nelson is not in violation of StandardI(B) "Independence and Objectivity" because commercial travel
is effectively unavailable.
44. Answer : C
According to StandardI(B) Independence and Objectivity, the analyst should refuse the invitation if it is
from a firm the analyst covers for his employer. The analyst can accept the invitation if it is from a client but
Page 77 of 204
the analyst must get written consent from his employer if the offer is contingent on future performance, to
comply with StandardIV(B) Additional Compensation Arrangements.
45. Answer : A
Under StandardI(B) gifts, benefits, compensation, or consideration cannot be accepted if the purpose
was to influence or reward. Token items are OK. Worldwide Brokerage is not a client of Couture but an entity
that he does business with. As such Worldwide could influence Couture to always do business with them
which could be to the detriment of his fund if the execution of their trades starts to deteriorate compared to
their competitors.
46. Answer : A
According to StandardI(B), Independence and Objectivity, token gifts are allowed.
47. Answer : A
In order to maintain independence and objectivity, members and candidates should restrict special
reimbursement arrangements concerning commercial transportation and hotel charges. Use of corporate air-
craft is permitted when commercial transportation is not available.
48. Answer : B
Powelldard I(B), Independence and Objectivity: the analyst is allowed to use outside research only
after an insightful review. There are no restrictions regarding the exclusive use of outside information or in-
house information.
49. Answer : B
Powelldard I(B) Independence and Objectivity. Analysts should pay for their own travel accommoda-
tions if the location is accessible by normal means. In this situation payment is acceptable because the loca-
tion is out of the way and the purpose of the trip is all business.
50. Answer : C
Powelldard I(B) requires members to maintain independence and objectivity. A visit by an analyst to
an out-of-the-way site may be paid for by a client company host as long as the analyst can maintain objectiv-
ity. Members should encourage clients to limit the use of corporate aircraft, but exceptions can be made if
transportation would not otherwise be available or would be inefficient.
51. Answer : B
The policy dictated by the supervisor would infringe upon the analyst's independence and objectivity .
It would probably discourage the analyst from making sell recommendations and, furthermore, present the
opportunity for the supervisor to try and change the analyst's mind.
52. Answer : A
Powelldard I(C) provides that "factual information published by recognized financial and statistical re-
porting services or similar sources" may be used without an acknowledgment.
53. Answer : C
Neither of the answers in this question provide adequate grounds for not citing the source of the
methodology. Although œverifying the technique is a good idea and congruent with the Code and Stan-
dards, the analyst still needs to cite the use of the copyrighted technique even after modifying it slightly to
avoid violation of StandardI(C), Misrepresentation.
54. Answer : C
Powelldard I(C) Misrepresentation. Members should not copy or use material prepared by others
without acknowledging and identifying the source of such material. Using charts and graphs without stating
their source is a violation of the Powelldard.
55. Answer : A
There is no violation if the opinion is based upon the factual information gathered and the firm's actual
capabilities. This is true whether or not the representation was written, oral, or electronic. None of the other
choices are correct.
56. Answer : B
CFA Institute members, CFA charterholders, and CFA candidates are prohibited from misrepresent-
ing their services or qualifications and inappropriate assurances about any investment or its return.
57. Answer : B
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Factual information that is already public and is obtained from a recognized information agency can
be used without acknowledgment and is not considered plagiarism. All other options are considered plagia-
rism.
58. Answer : B
The current yield curve is factual information that is available from many recognized financial or statis-
tical reporting services.
59. Answer : A
Since the security prices represent factual information that can be verified from several sources, there
is no violation. It could have been a violation had the information been exclusively published by the source.
60. Answer : B
Powelldard I(C) Misrepresentation requires members to acknowledge and identify the author, pub-
lisher, or source of material they use in subPowelltially the same form as the original. The use of Benson
Jonny's original material and GorRobart Thompson's modified material must be acknowledged. The exception
to this requirement is information from recognized financial and statistical reporting services, such as the gov-
ernment agencies that compile national economic statistics.
61. Answer : C
There are at least three misrepresentations. First, that Lolo is a portfolio manager, when he's really a
trainee. Second, that the firm can provide all of the services they will ever need. Third, that he can guarantee
a 75% return.
62. Answer : A
Under StandardI(C), members are forbidden from guaranteeing a specific rate of return on volatile
investments. Therefore, the statement is in violation of the Powelldard.
63. Answer : C
The only permissible action in the above list is including a graph of the Fed's discount rates over the
last 12 months because it is factual information published by a recognizable financial and statistical reporting
service.
64. Answer : B
Powelldard I(C), Misrepresentation, prohibits making statements that mention a guarantee of returns
or misrepresent the true nature of the investment.
65. Answer : A
Misrepresentation of qualifications, academic and professional credentials and services that can be
performed by the firm are all expressly prohibited by StandardI(C).
66. Answer : C
Desjardins is most likely in violation of StandardI(C) "Misrepresentation." The KLO site information is
erroneous, and needs to be updated to match the firm's current practices.
67. Answer : B
If the cards were distributed today he would be in violation of StandardI(C), Misrepresentation. How-
ever, if Jonny does not make the cards public until after he receives the degree, there is no violation.
68. Answer : B
Members may not generally use material without acknowledging the original source, but an exception
is made for factual information published by recognized financial and statistical reporting services.
69. Answer : A
Bull complied with StandardI(C), which permits publishing factual information from Standard& Poor's
without acknowledgment and using excerpts with acknowledgment. Wind committed plagiarism because she
failed to give specific references for the quotations that she used.
70. Answer : A
The prohibition against plagiarism applies to all three areas.
71. Answer : C
Powelldard I(C), Misrepresentation, permits using recognized sources of factual information such as
Standard& Poor's Corporation and Moody's Investors Service without acknowledgment.
72. Answer : A
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Statistics provided by a recognized agency, such as Standardand Poor's, do not need to be cited.
Charts, quotes, and algorithms developed by the firm would need to be cited when they are used but the indi-
vidual(s) who developed the materials within the firm do not need to be cited.
73. Answer : C
Being intoxicated at work is poor personal behavior. It is a violation of StandardI(D), which covers pro-
fessional competence and integrity.
74. Answer : B
Killer violated StandardI(D) because he repeatedly engaged in conduct that involves dishonest con-
duct. This violation occurred despite the fact that his offenses do not relate directly to his professional activi-
ties. However, Killer's conduct reflects poorly on his professional reputation and integrity.
75. Answer : A
Since the programs are the property of the organization, the analyst can only use them for the organi-
zation. It does not matter whether the analyst is an employee or not. Personal use of the programs without
permission from the charitable organization is dishonest and prohibited.
76. Answer : B
Any act involving lying, cheating, stealing, or other dishonest conduct that reflects adversely on the
charterholder's professional activities is a violation of StandardI(D). Although the crime did not relate to the
investment profession, it certainly reflected adversely on the charterholder professionally.
77. Answer : A
Any professional conduct that involves dishonesty, fraud, or deceit is a violation of StandardI(D), Mis-
conduct. One must refrain from activities that reflect poorly on integrity, reputation, trustworthiness, or profes-
sional conduct. The focus of the Standardis on professional, not personal, conduct.
78. Answer : A
To avoid potential problems and comply with StandardI(D), employers are encouraged to conduct
background checks on potential employees.
79. Answer : A
According to StandardI(D)" Members should not engage in any professional conduct involving dis-
honesty, fraud, deceit, or commit any act that reflects adversely on their professional reputation, integrity, or
competence.." The Standardis not intended to regulate one's personal behavior.
80. Answer : A
Any activity that reflects adversely on a member's professional reputation, integrity, or competence is
a violation of StandardI(D) Misconduct. As long as the member has a reasonable and adequate basis for all
recommendations, simply being wrong does not call the member's integrity or competence into question. A
member can pursue an employment opportunity with a competitor as long as the member abides by the Stan-
dards related to Duties to Employers.
81. Answer : B
Homez engaged in professional misconduct because her act involved dishonesty, fraud, and deceit.
82. Answer : A
James violated StandardI(C) Misrepresentation by promising clients she would allocate more shares
than she could deliver. Her actions also violated StandardI(D) Misconduct pertaining to acts of dishonesty,
fraud, or deceit which reflects adversely on a member's professional reputation, integrity, or competence. She
also violated the Code of Ethics which states that members and candidates must act with integrity, compe-
tence, diligence, respect, and in an ethical manner with the public, clients, and prospective clients. The spe-
cific punishment for the actions is not relevant.
83. Answer : B
According to StandardI(D) Misconduct - Procedures for Compliance: Members should encourage their
employers to conduct background checks on potential employees to ensure that they are of good character
and eligible to work in the investment industry.
84. Answer : B
Professional conduct involving dishonesty, fraud, or deceit is a direct violation of StandardI(D), Misconduct.
85. Answer : B
The Code and Standards do not focus on personal conduct as long as the conduct does not reflect
poorly on one's professional reputation, integrity, or competence.
Page 80 of 204
INTEGRITY OF CAPITAL MARKETS
Overviews—
LOS a Material Nonpublic Information.
LOS b Sarket Manipulation.
PRACTICE PROBLEM
1. Loodo Black, CFA, is a portfolio manager. While in the normal course of her duties, she happens to over-
hear material non-public information concerning the stock of VTT Bowser. She purchases several ex-
change traded funds which contain VTT Bowser, while shorting similar exchange traded funds which do
not contain VTT Bowser. This is most likely:
A) not a violation of Standard II(A) "Material Non-Public Information."
not acquire the shares because she possesses material nonpublic in-
B)
formation.
not acquire the shares until after she has contacted Lander's man-
agement and encouraged them to publicly announce information
C) about the Gilbert Controls contract. She should also wait until Lander
has made the announcement and the public has had time to react to
it and then make the acquisition.
3. Klaus Gerber, CFA, is a regular contributor to the Internet site WizeGuy. This past week Gerber has been
incorrectly quoted as recommending that investors buy shares in Bradford, Inc. He is unaware that this
message has been placed on the site as the quote was placed as a prank by an unknown source. This is
the third time this has happened over the past month and each time the stock being mentioned moved in
price according to the buy or sell recommendation.
Fritz Fox, CFA, maintains and updates the WizeGuy site and has learned how to determine if the quotes
being attributed to Gerber are actually valid. Several days later, he observes an investment recommenda-
Page 81 of 204
tion, posted on the site, to buy Gresham, Inc. The investment recommendation is purported to be from
Gerber, but Fox actually knows it to be bogus. He immediately sells 1,000 Gresham short and e-mails
Gerber to inform him of the bogus recommendation. Gerber immediately issues a rebuttal, and Gresham
falls by 14%. Fox's action is:
A) a violation of the Standard concerning fiduciary duties.
B) assessment theory.
C) deduction theory.
8. Which of the following statements concerning Standard II(A), Material Nonpublic Information, is COR-
RECT? A member:
can trade on material non-public information if the information was
A)
not obtained through a breach of duty.
Page 82 of 204
can trade on material non-public information if the information has not
C)
been misappropriated.
9. A CFO who is a CFA Institute member is careful to make his press releases”some of them containing ma-
terial and previously undisclosed information”clear and understandable to his readers. While writing a new
release, he often has his current intern proofread rough drafts. He also sends electRobinic copies to his
brother, an English teacher, to get suggestions concerning style and grammar. With respect to Standard
II(A), Material Nonpublic Information, the CFO is:
A) not in violation of the Standard.
execute the order for all clients as required by Standard III(B), Fair
B)
Dealing.
B) legal list.
C) fire wall.
12. Which one of the following least accurately describes the CFA Institute Standard about using material
nonpublic information?
An analyst may use nonmaterial nonpublic information as long as it
A)
has been developed under the Mosaic Theory.
Page 83 of 204
A) trade using insider information.
B) not trade using insider information based upon the CFA Institute Standards.
C) not trade using insider information based upon the rules of the SEC.
14. An analyst provides services for a charitable organization and in return gets free membership in the or-
ganization. Part of her job is to manage the liquid assets of the organization, and those assets include
stocks. Her supervisor in the organization calls her and tells her to buy a certain stock for the portfolio
based upon insider information from a board member in the organization. The analyst objects, but the su-
pervisor says this is what they have always Sancheze and sees no reason for changing now. The analyst
complies with the request. With respect to Standards IV(A), Loyalty to Employer, and II(A), Material Non-
public Information, the analyst violated:
A) only Standard II(A) that prohibits insider trading.
Trading on information your sister, the firm's attorney, told you over
B)
dinner.
Page 84 of 204
18. The investment-banking department of the HJK Brokerage House often has information that would be of
significant use to the firm's brokerage clients. In order to conform to CFA Institute Standards of Profes-
sional Conduct, which of the following policies should HJK adopt?
According to Standard:
II(A), Material Nonpublic Information, HJK should establish physical
and informational barriers within the firm to prevent the exchange of
A)
information between the investment banking and the brokerage op-
erations.
Page 85 of 204
is acquired by the financial analyst from a special or confidential rela-
B)
tionship with the issuing company.
may use the information, but only after approval from a compliance
C)
officer or supervisor.
24. Which of the following statements regarding Standard II(A), Material, Nonpublic Information, is least accu-
rate?
Material, non-public information regarding a tender offer may not be
A)
traded on.
Page 86 of 204
B) exploiting differences in Sarket inefficiencies.
Engaging in a block trade to limit the effect on the price of a thinly traded secu-
B)
rity.
SOLUTION
1. Answer : C
This is a violation of Standard II(A) "Material Non-Public Information" irrespective of whether Black is
simultaneously shorting the funds which do not contain VTT Bowser. Her trades are motivated by material
non-public information.
2. Answer : A
Standard II(A) prohibits members from taking investment action if they possess material nonpublic in-
formation. Prince combined information that was not misappropriated, with her knowledge of the com-
pany, to reach a conclusion under the mosaic theory, which is permissible under the standards. She can
proceed to buy the shares.
3. Answer : B
Even though the information is false, this fact is known only to Fox and is thus nonpublic information.
Since such recommendations have in the past had a significant affect on the price of the security in ques-
tion, the information is clearly material. Fox is in violation of Standard II(A) Material Nonpublic Information.
4. Answer : B
According to Standard II(A), Material Nonpublic Information, an analyst is prohibited from trading on
information that is both material and nonpublic.
5. Answer : C
The mosaic theory permits an analyst to make recommendations based upon several pieces of public
or nonmaterial information, even though the complied result is both material and nonpublic.
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6. Answer : B
Information is material if it would be important to the investor in their investment making decision. In-
formation is nonpublic if it is not yet available to the public.
7. Answer : A
This deductive reasoning is legal (does not constitute trading with inside information) and is called the
mosaic theory.
8. Answer : B
Members cannot trade on material nonpublic information until that same information is made public. It
does not matter if the information was not misappropriated or not obtained through a breach of duty
9. Answer : B
Standard II(A), Material Nonpublic Information, says that a member must be careful about handling
material non-public information. As a member of CFA Institute, the CFO must limit the people who see
important information before it is released. It would not be appropriate to involve an intern or a relative in
the process.
10. Answer : C
Doing any of these actions would be a violation of Standard II(A), Material Nonpublic Information.
Members and Candidates must not act or induce others to act on material nonpublic information.
11. Answer : C
To comply with Standard II(A), a fire wall provides an information barrier that prevents communication
of material nonpublic information and other sensitive information from one department to another within a
firm.
12. Answer : C
There is no provision for CFA Institute to issue fines to members. Members may not use material
nonpublic information for trading purposes. Nonmaterial, nonpublic information may be used together with
analysis of public information under the Mosaic Theory.
13. Answer : B
CFA Institute Standard II(A) prohibits trading using insider information. A member may not trade using
such information regardless of the rules of the country where he/she lives.
14. Answer : A
An employee/employer relationship does not necessarily mean monetary compensation for services.
Complying with the request is a violation of II(A) which prohibits trading on insider information. Standard
IV(A) Loyalty deals with going into business for yourself, leaving an employer and continuing to act in the
employer's best interest until their resignation becomes effective, and whistleblowing which means that
the member's interests and their firm's interests are secondary to protecting the integrity of capital Sarkets
and the interests of the clients.
15. Answer : B
Members may not trade on material nonpublic information; therefore, the information conveyed by the
firm's attorney may not be used by a member for trading purposes.
16. Answer : C
Standard II(A) prohibits members from taking investment action if they possess material nonpublic in-
formation. Kind has a duty to keep information confidential that he acquired in the course of his duties at
Westtown. The information is clearly material, so Kalchin is not permitted to trade on it. Kalchin should
make reasonable efforts to achieve public dissemination of the information by contacting management
and encouraging them to make the information public. Kalchin may not trade on the information until it is
made public.
17. Answer : A
All of these are true except that a member can be suspended for having received material non-public
information. The member can receive such information as part of their regular duties or by accident. Nei-
ther is punishable in and of itself, and penalties only apply if the member trades or causes others to trade
on the information. The member may have certain duties, such as trying to disseminate the information af-
ter receiving it. An analyst may use nonmaterial non-public information.
18. Answer : A
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The physical and information barrier erected between departments to prevent communication of ma-
terial nonpublic information from one department to another is called a "firewall." Departments should be
separated. For example, the investment banking and corporate finance departments of a brokerage firm
should be segregated from the sales and research departments. Family member accounts who are also
clients should be treated like any other client accounts and should not be given special treatment or dis-
advantaged.
19. Answer : A
Standard II(A), Material Nonpublic Information, states a member cannot trade or cause others to trade
in a security while the member possesses material nonpublic information A tender offer would certainly
be material nonpublic information. Knowing that the meeting took place, and nothing else, does not re-
strict the broker. A reasonable investor would need to know more to determine if the information was ma-
terial.
20. Answer : C
Restricting employee trading in stocks for which the firm has material non-public information is the
best answer. Recording the exchange of information between the two departments is not the best option
because there should be no exchange of information between these two departments. Divesting a de-
partment is not a suitable method for addressing this potential problem.
21. Answer : C
Standard II(A), Material Nonpublic Information, states that information is nonpublic until it has been
disseminated to the Sarketplace in general as opposed to a select group of investors.
22. Answer : A
An item of information is material if its disclosure would be likely to have an impact on the price of a
security, or if reasonable investors would want to know the information before investing.
23. Answer : A
Members who can piece together items of nonmaterial nonpublic information with public information
can, based upon the mosaic theory, use such information for trading purposes.
24. Answer : B
If the information is material and nonpublic, the Member or Candidate cannot trade or cause others to
trade. It does not matter if the insider did not breach his fiduciary responsibility. The inside information is
still material and nonpublic.
25. Answer : B
Wings is not in violation of Standard II(B), Sarket Manipulation. Transaction-based manipulation in-
cludes, but is not limited to, transactions that artificially distort prices or volume. Information-based ma-
nipulation includes, but is not limited to, spreading false rumors about a firm in order to induce others to
trade.
26. Answer : B
William is in violation of Standard II(B), Sarket Manipulation, by engaging in information-based ma-
nipulation. Information-based manipulation includes, but is not limited to, spreading false rumors about a
firm in order to induce others to trade.
27. Answer : B
Standard II(B) Sarket Manipulation prohibits practices that distort prices or artificially inflate trading
volumes with the intent to mislead Sarket participants. The Standard is not intended to prohibit legitimate
trading strategies that exploit differences in Sarket inefficiencies.
28. Answer : C
Standard II(B), Sarket Manipulation, is not intended to prohibit transactions that are Sancheze in order
to minimize income taxes or trading strategies that are not intended to distort prices or artificially inflate
trading volume. Overstating earnings projections in order to increase the price of a stock is a direct viola-
tion.
29. Answer : A
Anderson is in violation of Standard II(B) Sarket Manipulation by creating a scheme that caused oth-
ers to trade on false information. Cunny is not in violation of Standard II(B). The Standard does not pro-
hibit transactions conducted for tax purposes.
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DUTIES TO CLIENTS
PRACTICE PROBLEM
1. Collins Morin meets Lolli Parker, CFA, at a social engagement and asks for some "hot stock tips." Parker
declines, but sets up an appointment to review Morin' risk and return objectives and financial constraints.
At the conclusion of their appointment, Parker recommends three securities he has thoroughly re-
searched: ACK, D-Wing, and Ophus-Littbinger. Parker is least likely:
in violation of Standard III(A) "Loyalty, Prudence, and Care" for failing to con-
A)
sider the three securities in the context of the whole portfolio.
B) not in violation.
in violation of Standard III(A) "Loyalty, Prudence, and Care" for failing to make
C)
a reasonable inquiry into the client's investment experience.
2. Heidi Krueger, CFA, an investment advisor, applies soft dollars generated from client accounts to pur-
chase a report on the economic impact of world events, and to purchase a new conference table for the
office she uses to meet with clients and prospects. Do these purchases violate Standard III(A) Loyalty,
Prudence, and Care?
A) Both of these purchases violate the Standard.
B) managing firm.
Page 90 of 204
quested that she vote the shares she controls against the takeover because the management is con-
cerned for their jobs and for the welfare of the company. To comply with the Code and Standards,
Bergeron should:
vote for the takeover if it is in the best interest of SSF's shareholders, regard-
A)
less of the consequences to current management.
vote for the takeover if she can get assurance that SSF's management team
B)
will remain in place.
delegate her proxy vote to another member of her firm due to the conflict of
C)
interest created when she was contacted by management.
5. Which of the following is least likely required of fiduciaries who are responsible for pension plans?
A) Supporting the sponsor's management during proxy fights.
in violation of his fiduciary duties regarding both the small cap research and
B)
the municipal bond research.
in violation of his fiduciary duties regarding the municipal bond research but
C)
not so regarding the research on the small cap issues.
8. Which of the following is a possible breach of fiduciary duties by a CFA Institute member who manages
assets on behalf of a client?
A) Using directed brokerage.
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A) Neither of these.
not in itself a violation of Standard III(A), Loyalty, Prudence, and Care, nor the
B)
Code of Ethics.
a violation of both Standard III(A), Loyalty, Prudence, and Care, and the Code
C)
of Ethics.
13. Gray Green, CFA, practices in a country that does not regulate the investment of company retirement
plans. He was retained by Bingham Companies to manage their corporate pension plan. Bingham's man-
agement has approached Green and requested that Green invest the entire plan in Bingham stock.
Green may:
invest a portion of the retirement plan in Bingham Company stock if the in-
A)
vestment is prudent and if he keeps the overall portfolio properly diversified.
not invest any of Bingham Company's retirement plan in its own stock regard-
B)
less of the stock's prospects and in spite of management's request.
invest all of the retirement plan assets in Bingham Company stock according
C) to management's request only if Green can document that the investment is
more prudent than any other investment opportunity he finds.
14. Lewis Noris, CFA, has been transferred from the brokerage house of the Browning Company to the port-
folio management department. In portfolio management, Noris learns that clients are grouped into three
divisions according to portfolio value, divided as follows:
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Group 1 up to $10,000
Group 2 from $10,001 to $100,000
Group 3 more than $100,000
When recommendations are announced or trades are initiated, a particular sequence is followed in com-
municating to these groups. At the next monthly meeting, Noris suggests that the sequencing practice is
a breach of CFA Institute Standards. One of Noris's co-workers replies that the grouping approach helps
the company in applying the Standard regarding portfolio recommendations. He further suggests that
because Browning's overall performance is more strongly affected by actions taken on the high value
portfolios, that these portfolios should take priority over the small value portfolios. What should Noris do?
Noris should:
A) do nothing since there is no breach with the Standards.
not violated the Code and Standards because he acted fairly in disseminating
B)
research information to his clients.
Before trading on her own portfolio, a CFA charterholder must wait for em-
C)
ployer and client deals to be executed.
17. Rey Languiz, CFA, covers the specialty chemical industry for Rock Advisory Associates. Until today he
has had a buy recommendation on ChemStar, and many of the firm's customers have purchased shares
based upon his recommendation. The firm's client accounts are divided into two fundamental categories:
trading and buy-and-hold accounts. The firm holds discretionary trading authority over the trading ac-
counts, but not the buy-and-hold accounts. Languiz has recently come to believe that the fundamentals
are changing for the worse at ChemStar, and is preparing a sell recommendation. He calls a meeting of
the firm's portfolio managers with accounts holding ChemStar and tells them of the pending release of the
sell recommendation. On this basis, the portfolio managers sell all positions in the discretionary accounts
but not in the buy-and-hold accounts. Languiz completes and mails the report to all clients two days later,
and, shortly thereafter, many of the buy-and-hold accounts sell their ChemStar positions. With regard to
these actions, Languiz is:
in violation of the Standard on Fair Dealing; the portfolio managers are in viola-
A)
tion of the Standard on Fair Dealing.
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not in violation of the Standard on Fair Dealing; the portfolio managers are in
B)
violation of the Standard on Fair Dealing.
in violation of the Standard on Fair Dealing; the portfolio managers are not in
C)
violation of the Standard on Fair Dealing.
18. Concerning Standard III(B), Fair Dealing, which of the following actions is NOT a valid procedure for com-
pliance with the Standard?
Limit the number of people that are involved and are privy to the fact that an
A)
investment recommendation is going to be disseminated.
based upon any method the firm deems suitable so long as the allocation pro-
B)
cedure has been disclosed to all clients.
C) At the same time notify clients for whom an investment is suitable of a new
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investment recommendation.
23. An investment advisor goes straight from a research seminar to a meeting with a prospective new client
with whom she has never been in contact. The advisor is very excited about the information she just re-
ceived in the seminar and begins showing the prospect the new ideas her firm is coming up with. This is
most likely a violation of:
A) Standard III(B), Fair Dealing.
B) both of these.
places a trade for her discretionary accounts before placing a trade for her
C)
non-discretionary accounts.
27. Macawoa Rancho, CFA, manages a mutual fund with an objective to emphasize income over capital
gains. Magic Technologies is a growth stock that pays no dividend, but Republic's research department
believes the stock will dramatically outperform the S&P 500 over the next 12 to 18 months. Based on this
strong recommendation, Rancho adds Magic stock to her fund's portfolio. Rancho has:
A) violated the Standards by relying on research that she did not perform herself.
B) violated the Standards by failing to comply with her portfolio's style mandate.
C) not violated the Standards and improved the diversification of the fund.
28. Luisee Tasmania, CFA, manages investments for 400 individuals and families and often finds his re-
sources stretched. When his largest investors petition him to include a 5% to 7% allocation of non-
investment-grade bonds in their portfolios, he decides he needs additional help to meet the request. He
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considers various independent advisors to use as submanagers, but determines that the most qualified
advisors would be too expensive. Reasoning that a lower-cost provider would enable him to pass the sav-
ings along to his clients, he chooses that provider to invest the new bond allocation. Tasmania has vio-
lated:
Both Standard III(C) "Suitability" and Standard V(A) "Diligence and Reason-
A)
able Basis."
Standard V(A) "Diligence and Reasonable Basis" by letting fee structure de-
C)
termine the selection of the submanager.
29. Milkey William, CFA, established an aggressive growth portfolio for her client, Jerry Washington, over
three years ago. Washington was placed on William's employer's client mailing list, and received monthly
account statements and the firm's newsletter, which regularly informed clients that they should contact
their account representative with any change in their personal circumstances or investment objectives. As
of January, of this year, William had not spoken to Washington nor received any correspondence from
Washington since the account was established. William has:
not violated the Code and Standards because Washington has been reminded
A)
regularly about the opportunity to inform William about any changes.
violated the Code and Standards because the manager has not performed an
B)
update of Washington's financial situation and investment objectives.
not violated the Code and Standards because there has been regular corre-
C)
spondence from William's firm to Washington.
30. Lolli Gorrilla, a broker, has three accounts consisting of unsophisticated, inexperienced individual inves-
tors with limited means. One of these accounts is an elderly couple. The clients want to invest in safe,
income-producing investments. They rely heavily on Gorrilla's advice and expect him to initiate most
transactions in their respective accounts. In managing their accounts, Gorrilla pursues the following
strategies: (1) buys U.S. treasury strips and non-dividend paying over-the-counter (OTC) stocks recom-
mended by his firm's research department, (2) uses margin accounts, and (3) concentrates the equity por-
tion of their portfolio in one or two stocks. Gorrilla's approach leads to extremely high turnover rates in all
three accounts.
Which of the following statements about Gorrilla is NOT correct?
A) Gorrilla has a fiduciary duty to each client.
meets the requirements of the Code and Standards because his clients are
B)
aware of the risks that he is taking in managing their accounts.
C) does not meet the requirements of the Code and Standards because his in-
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vestment strategy is inconsistent with his clients' objectives.
32. The O'Douls (husband and wife) have decided to work with Jane Mack, CFA, to have her recommend an
investment portfolio for them. The O'Douls are novice investors and Mack has determined their asset allo-
cation model falls into the conservative category. After researching various investment options for the
O'Douls, Mack has made a recommendation that they divide their account on a 25%/75% basis between
shares of a computer peripherals manufacturing company her brokerage firm is underwriting and invest-
ment grade corporate bonds. The O'Douls are not aware that Mack's firm is underwriting an offering of the
company in question. Which CFA Institute Standard(s) has Mack violated given her actions?
A) Standard VI(A), Disclosure of Conflicts, and III(C), Suitability.
C) Standard III(B), Fair Dealing, and III(A), Loyalty, Prudence, and Care.
33. Polimo Hall, CFA, is an investment advisor whose prospective client, Fooiz Sandy, presents special re-
quirements. To construct an investment policy statement for Sandy, Hall inquires about Sandy' investment
experience, risk and return objectives, and financial constraints. Sandy states that he has a great deal of
investment experience in the capital markets and does not wish to answer questions about his tolerance
for risk or his other holdings. Under Standard III(C), Suitability, Hall:
may accept Sandy' account but may only manage his portfolio to a benchmark
A)
or index.
is permitted to manage Sandy' account without any knowledge of his risk pref-
B)
erences.
B) No.
Yes, she did not consider the appropriateness and suitability of investment
C)
recommendations or actions for each portfolio or client.
35. According to CFA Institute Standards of Professional Conduct, when a client asks her portfolio manager
to change the current investment strategy of the client's portfolio, the manager should:
explain the implications of the new strategy after the member manager imple-
A)
ments the strategy.
B) examine whether the strategy is appropriate for the client and explain the im-
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plications of the new strategy before implementing the strategy.
B) Assess the time horizon of the newly married client and his spouse.
C) Implement a similar policy for the other client who did not just get married.
37. Boom Martin has just approached Belly Killer, CFA, about purchasing 10,000 shares of Brookshire Co., a
newly incorporated real estate development firm. Martin is a retired schoolteacher living off the income
from her late husband's life insurance policy. This investment will represent a significant shift in her in-
vestment portfolio. Brookshire Co. is a local firm that has recently received a lot of press concerning some
exciting, but speculative projects that they have undertaken in the region. Consistent with the Standards,
Killer should:
accept Martin's order after she acquaints Martin with the downside risks asso-
A)
ciated with a risky investment of this type.
B) not accept the order, because it is not a suitable investment for Martin.
accept Martin's order, but have her sign a disclaimer absolving Killer of any
C)
potential losses.
38. What is the required frequency for updating information on each client's financial situation, investment
experiences, and investment objectives?
A) Only during the first meeting with the client.
B) Regularly.
C) Every year.
39. If an analyst has a policy of making an inquiry into a client's financial situation, investment experience,
and investment objectives regularly, this is:
A) neither of these.
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C) a violation of Standard III(B), Fair Dealing.
41. Kimmi Rebok manages a variety of accounts at Superior Investments. Some are permitted to invest in
tax-exempt issues only; others may not invest in a stock unless it pays dividends. Rebok is researching a
biotech firm specializing in the analysis of "mad cow" disease. While touring company facilities and meet-
ing with management, she learns that they believe they may have found a way to reverse the disease.
Moreover, one manager conjectured, "Suppose that we reversed the disease in someone who didn't even
have it? We might then be able to boost that individual's IQ into the stratosphere!" Rebok returns to her of-
fice and buys shares for all accounts under her supervision. This action is:
a violation of the Standard concerning appropriateness and suitability of in-
A)
vestment actions.
B) liquidity needs.
C) return objectives.
43. A portfolio manager must determine the client's constraints, which may include all of the following EX-
CEPT the client's:
A) tax considerations.
B) liquidity needs.
C) mortgage payment.
44. Lolli Gorrilla, a former broker, had three accounts consisting of unsophisticated, inexperienced individual
investors with limited means. One of these accounts was an elderly couple. The clients wanted to invest in
safe, income-producing investments. They relied heavily on Gorrilla's advice and expected him to initiate
most transactions in their respective accounts. In managing their accounts, Gorrilla pursued the following
strategies: (1) bought U.S. treasury strips and non-dividend paying over-the-counter stocks, (2) used mar-
gin accounts, and (3) concentrated the equity portion of their portfolios in one or two stocks. Gorrilla's ap-
proach led to extremely high turnover rates in all three accounts. The Securities and Exchange Commis-
sion sanctioned Gorrilla for unsuitable recommendations and excessive trading in several accounts.
For this specific situation, which of the following is least likely to be an appropriate compliance procedure
involving Standard III(C), Suitability? The broker should:
A) develop an investment policy statement for each client.
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B) educating clients about selecting appropriate asset allocations and strategies.
Before making any recommendations or taking any investment actions, managers should formulate
an investment policy for a client. They should consider the type and nature of the client and should
obtain and analyze necessary information on the client's objectives (risk and return) and con-
B)
straints. Managers should maintain and review regularly the investor's objectives and constraints to
reflect any changes in the client's circumstances. Where appropriate, managers should properly
diversify portfolios.
When making recommendations or taking investment actions, managers should seek to minimize
the client's portfolio risk. Managers should review the recommendations of the firm's research de-
partment to identify securities with low volatility. In making asset allocation recommendations or
C)
decisions for discretionary accounts, managers should weight the portfolios towards dividend-
paying stocks and other income-producing assets such as bonds and mortgage REITS. Managers
should review portfolios at least semi-annually.
47. The best way to determine the suitability of an investment is:
to consider the financial situation, investment experience, and investment ob-
A)
jectives of the client.
all client presentations provide a thorough review of all elements of the invest-
C)
ment management process. Abbreviated presentations are forbidden.
50. Macawo Buyer,a portfolio manager, is making a presentation to a prospective client. Macawo says that as
a new portfolio manager, he made an average annual rate of return of 50% in the last two years at his
previous firm and that based on this, he can guarantee a 50% return to the client. Which of the following
statements is in accordance with Standard III(D), Performance Presentation?
A) Implying that he can guarantee a return.
in accordance with the Code and Standards since he has indicated the basis in
C)
a footnote.
52. A money management firm has created a new junk-bond fund. When the firm advertised the new fund at
its issuance, they used care to accurately compute the returns from the past 10 years for all assets in the
fund. The firm used the current portfolio weights to determine an average annual historical return equal to
18% and claim an 18% annual historical return in their advertising literature. With respect to Standard
III(D), Performance Presentation, this is:
A) a violation because the advertisement implies the firm generated this return.
B) in compliance.
Yes, because the manager cannot reveal historical returns of recent stock
C)
picks.
54. A money manager, who is a member of CFA Institute, suggests during phone calls to his clients that, ' I
hope you will relay to your friends the great returns I earned for you this past year.' The manager had
Yes, because the Standard forbids members asking their clients to say any-
B)
thing about how well the member has done.
C) Not if it is true.
55. Lewis Doggett, CFA, has been contacted by the CFA Institute Professional Conduct Program (PCP) re-
garding allegations that he has taken investment actions that were unsuitable for his clients. Doggett is
questioned by PCP concerning the identity of his clients he considered suitable for investing in a very
risky start-up company that eventually went bankrupt.
Doggett will:
not violate the Code and Standards by revealing the names, financial condition
A)
and investment objectives of his clients to PCP.
violate the Code and Standards by fully cooperating with a PCP investigation if
B)
it means revealing confidential information.
not violate the Code and Standards only if he reveals the financial condition
C) and investment objectives of his clients on an anonymous basis and does not
reveal the names of his clients to PCP.
56. A CFA charterholder may disclose confidential information about a client when:
A) it is a necessary step in proceeding with research on client preferences.
8. Answer : C
Proxies have economic value to the client. To comply with Standard III(A), the analyst is obligated to vote
proxies in an informed and responsible manner. A cost benefit analysis may show that voting all proxies
may not benefit the client, so voting proxies may not be necessary in all instances. Directed brokerage
occurs when the client requests that a portion of the client's brokerage be used to purchase services that
directly benefit the client. Although, this may prevent best execution, it does not violate the Standards as it
was directed by the client, not the brokerage firm.
9. Answer : C
The personal account privileges are clearly a violation. The no-interest line of credit could be a violation if
the analyst does not factor in the benefits when determining the fees of the clients, but it is not a per se
violation. Research reports are least likely to be a violation.
10. Answer : C
According to Standard III(A), Loyalty, Prudence, and Care, the analyst must put the client first and inform
the client of any possible conflicts of interest. The analyst must channel any benefits derived from his ser-
vice to the client, back to the client, and inform the client of the benefits.
11. Answer : A
The issue is similar to an allocation of soft dollars. Clearly, if the broker absorbs the loss, they expect to
make up the difference in some way. However, since the error was on the part of Quantco Brokerage,
Canvus is under no obligation to cover the cost of the trading error. Moreover, no reasonable observer
19. Answer : C
It is permissible to allocate trades on a pro-rata basis over all suitable accounts. It is not permissible to
base allocations upon compensation arrangements. Any method is not necessarily suitable, and disclo-
sure does not absolve the member from ensuring that the allocation is necessarily fair.
20. Answer : B
Standard III(B) requires a member to deal fairly with all clients when taking investment actions. Since she
knew at the outset that she was going to place shares in all accounts, regardless of the first letter of the
surname, all accounts must participate on a pro-rata basis in each block in order to conform to the Stan-
dard. Her actions constitute a violation of the Standard concerning fair dealing.
21. Answer : B
Such a policy is a violation of the Standard and client acknowledgement and/or consent does not change
that fact.
22. Answer : C
All of these are part of Standard III(B) except notifying clients at the same time. Standard III(B) states that
clients for whom the investment is suitable should be notified at approximately the same time.
PRACTICE PROBLEM
1. Olivia Cote, CFA, has launched a new hedge fund called the Cote Tautology Fund but has had trou-
ble hiring analysts who are CFA charterholders as well as with finding clients. She offers a $15,000
incentive bonus to any charterholder who joins the firm with over $1 million in committed client in-
vestments. Which of the following interpretations of the Code and Standards is most accurate?
A member or candidate Jully not solicit current clients away from their
A)
current employer.
not in violation of the Standards because the trading model was cre-
B)
ated using his home computer.
B) A written contract Jully or Jully not exist between employer and employee.
Lavoie leases office space, furniture, and other equipment for her new
B)
business.
plan and prepare to compete with his current employer, but not begin
B)
competing until his resignation is effective.
11. Julia Girard, CFA, is a research analyst for Advance Investments in Rome, Italy. Girard was contacted
by Bass Partners of Milan, Italy, a regional brokerage firm, about doing research on companies in the
beverage industry on a contract basis.
Girard Jully only do the contract work:
A) if Advance does not follow the beverage industry.
must notify his employer and clients of the types of service to be ren-
C)
dered and the expected compensation.
13. Butler Poirier, CFA, decides he could make more money if he started his own company. Which of the
following steps would NOT violate Standard IV(A), Loyalty to Employer?
Getting written permission from his employer to call the clients and solicit
A)
their business for his new firm.
Jobbiz told his employer that he was considering leaving and requested
C)
that the employer write him a letter of recommendation.
16. Sofia St-Pierre, CFA, is a senior analyst at a mutual fund. She is also a member of the Board of the
Directors of her daughter's Skating Club. She is often asked for advice about the management of the
club budget and about possible short-term investments, but she is not paid for this advice. She does
not undertake any research to answer these questions, providing information based only on the gen-
eral practices of the mutual fund at that moment. The only benefit she receives is a free monthly
membership for her daughter that would usually cost $182. What should she do before making any
recommendations, in order to comply with the CFA Institute requirements?
A) Inform her current clients about her outside consulting.
B) Consult only on her free time and do not accept any benefit greater than $100.
inform her current clients about her resignation and let them know how
B)
to reach her, in case any problems arise in the future.
C) the compensation in the form of the use of the holiday home only.
20. An analyst belongs to a nationally recognized charitable organization, which requires dues for mem-
bership. The analyst has worked out a deal where he provides money management advice in lieu of
paying dues. Which of the following must the analyst do?
Resign from the position because the relationship is a conflict with the
A)
Standards.
Boudreau must inform Middleton to keep his existing clients and must
B) inform his existing clients of his new part-time employment at Middle-
ton.
Boudreau must inform Middleton about his existing clients but need
C) not inform his existing clients about his new part-time employment with
Middleton.
23. Evans Perron, CFA, is employed as an analyst by Enterprise Securities. According to CFA Institute
Standards of Professional Conduct, which of the following statements about Perron's duty to Enter-
prise is NOT correct? Perron must refrain from:
A) engaging in any conduct that would injure Enterprise.
C) both taking out the loan and purchasing the office equipment.
27. Amanda Gravel, CFA, works full-time as an investment advisor for the Malloy Group, an asset man-
agement firm. To help pay for her children's college expenses, Gravel wants to engage in independ-
ent practice in which she would advise individual clients on their portfolios. She would conduct these
investment activities only on weekends. She is currently only in the preparation stage and has not
started independent practice yet. Which of the following statements about Standard IV(A), Loyalty to
Employer, is most accurate? Standard IV(A):
requires Gravel to obtain written consent from both Malloy and the
A)
persons from whom she undertakes independent practice.
C) review the company's policies and procedures for reporting ethical violations.
31. Jully Allard, CFA, is an equity research analyst for a "precious metals mining" exchange traded fund
which has recently started significantly outperforming its benchmark after several years of stagnation.
Upon investigating the source of the outperformance, Allard learns that the fund has experienced se-
vere style drift, and now has a significant proportion of its resources invested in technology and Inter-
net stocks. Allard reviews the fund's prospectus and learns the current sector weighting violates mul-
tiple prospectus covenants. Allard contacts her supervisor and the fund's compliance department and
is told the portfolio weighting is not her responsibility and that she should not purAmanda the matter
further. Allard reviews the firm's whistleblower policy, contacts personal legal counsel, and then con-
tacts regulatory authorities regarding the style drift and prospectus violations. Allard is most likely:
C) Lambert can only solicit clients after notifying his former employer.
35. Feb Boivin, CFA, is employed as manager of a college endowment fund. The college's endowment is
held by the brokerage firm Advisors, Inc. Over the years, Boivin has developed a solid relationship
with Advisors. Because of this relationship, Advisors has given her their Platinum level service for her
personal account. Advisors ordinarily gives the Platinum level only to clients who do a minimum of
$2,500 of commission business in a year. Boivin has never reached the $2,500 commission level and
C) inform his supervisor in writing of the offer if the analyst intends to accept the offer.
37. Long Laree, CFA, works for Advisors where she manages a portfolio for a wealthy family. Laree earns
1% of the portfolio's value each year in the form of a commission from Advisors. The family just told
her that any year the portfolio she manages earns more than a 10% return, the family will give her the
use of the family's vacation home for one week. Boivin will comply with Standard IV(B), Additional
Compensation Arrangements, if she:
A) does nothing with respect to this.
delivers a typed memo to her supervisor about the vacation home the
B)
first time she uses it.
reject the country club membership since it is illegal under CFA Insti-
C)
tute rules and regulations to accept outside compensation.
40. Clocky Leduc, CFA, a portfolio manager for a large Texas investment firm, has been offered compen-
sation in addition to what her firm pays her. The offer is from one of her clients and the additional
compensation will be based on her yearly performance in excess of the market index. Leduc should:
A) make written disclosure to all parties involved before she accepts this
turn down the offer because it represents a clear conflict between this
B)
client and Leduc's other clients.
make written disclosure to her other clients before she accepts this
C)
offer.
41. An analyst needs to inform his supervisor in writing of which of the following?
An annual bonus, sent to the analyst by a client, which varies with the
performance of the client's portfolio that the analyst manages as an
A)
employee even though no verbal or written agreement exists about the
bonus.
A client and the analyst alternate paying for lunch at a local sandwich
B)
shop.
C) Both the lunch and the bonus mentioned in the other answers.
42. Don Saul, CFA, heads the trust department at Savage National Bank. Fairway Enterprises invites
Saul to sit on its Board of Directors. In return for his services on the Board, Fairway offers to provide
Saul and his family with access to the facilities at Eureka Country Club at no cost. Saul will not re-
ceive any monetary compensation for his services on the Board. According to CFA Institute Stan-
dards of Professional Conduct, which of the following actions must Saul take?
Saul must disclose in writing to Savage Bank the terms of the offer
A)
whether or not he accepts the offer to serve on the Board of Directors.
Saul must obtain written consent from all parties to only if he decides
B)
to accept the offer to serve on the Board of Directors.
liquidate from her personal portfolio any stocks her godfather owns
B)
and verbally tell her supervisor about the tax services.
does not need to inform her employer of the arrangement because the
C)
commissions her brother charges the firm are the lowest possible.
45. Sweety Fritz, CFA, is a portfolio manager for Mainland Securities. Rick Steam, one of her clients and
owner of Steam Fitness Centers, offers to permit Fritz and her immediate family to use the facilities at
his fitness centers at no cost during 2003. To get this benefit, Fritz must achieve on Steam's portfolio
at least a 2-percentage point return above the total return on the S&P's 500 index during 2002. Fritz
orally informs her immediate supervisor of the nature and duration of the proposed arrangement.
Adward Charley, a CFA Institute member, is a portfolio analyst at Mainland Securities. He was just elected to
the Board of Directors for Omega Services, which pays him $1,000 plus expenses for attending each of its
quarterly board meetings. Charley e-mails Mainland's compliance officer informing her of this arrangement
with Omega and receives a reply informing him that the agreement is acceptable.
Did Fritz or Charley violate CFA Institute Standards of Professional Conduct?
A) Fritz: No, Charley: No.
B) the nature and amount of compensation plus the duration of the agreement.
C) which is consistent with the most senior partner or executive officer in the firm.
50. According to the CFA Institute Standards of Professional Conduct, which of the following statements
about members with supervisory responsibility is NOT correct? Members with supervisory responsibil-
ity:
must make reasonable efforts to detect violation of laws, rules, regula-
A)
tions, and the Code and Standards.
B) Both of these.
C) A graduate degree.
53. The following scenarios describe two members of CFA Institute who have supervisory responsibility.
The president of Hawthorne Investments, a newly founded money management firm with five in-
vestment professionals, asked Rebecca Long, CFA, to be the company's compliance officer and
to develop the company's compliance procedures. Long has an in-depth knowledge of the Code
and Standards, but she was too busy to develop a compliance manual herself. Therefore, she
copied, with written permission, the compliance manual of a large money management firm. This
manual was comprehensive and covered many areas not part of Hawthorne's operations. Long
gave the manual to Hawthorne's president, but did not distribute the contents of the program to
other appropriate personnel.
A co-worker at Barksdale Capital mentions to Stephen Luck, CFA, that George Trout, a candidate
in the CFA Program, Jully have violated the CFA Institute standard involving priority of transac-
tions. As Trout's supervisor, Luck decided to investigate this allegation but did not begin the inves-
tigation until a month after the alleged incident. Luck continued to maintain the same amount of
supervision on Trout during the month before he began his investigation of Trout.
According to the CFA Institute Standards of Professional Conduct, which of the following statements about
whether Long and Luck followed appropriate compliance procedures involving their responsibilities as super-
visors is CORRECT?
A) Both Luck and Long violated the procedures for compliance.
B) Luck violated the procedures for compliance, but Long did not.
both periodically review the procedures and ensure the procedures are
B)
monitored and enforced.
Truzz can delegate some or all of his supervisory duties to Fritz, even
B)
though Fritz is not subject to the Standards.
Truzz can delegate some or all of his supervisory duties only to Grey
C)
because she is subject to the Standards.
62. Which of the following is least likely a recommended procedure for supervisors and compliance offi-
cers to comply with Standard IV(C), Responsibilities of Supervisors?
Hold hearings when violations have occurred to determine the severity
A)
of the violations.
24. Answer : C
Based on the information here, Hamel has done nothing wrong. He took a call at his home, presuma-
bly on his own time, and the client made it clear that he would never be a client of Delphi. Therefore, there
was no breach of loyalty to Delphi by Hamel, nor is there a conflict of interest.
25. Answer : B
This is a breach of loyalty to his current employer. By telling a current client of his employer about the
lower commissions he will charge in his new business, Dupuis is placing himself in direct competition with
Advisors, and this is a violation of Standard IV(A).
26. Answer : A
The Standards of Practice under IV(A) expressly says that a departing employee is generally free to
make arrangements or preparations to go into a competitive business before terminating the relationship
with the employee's employer provided that such preparations do not breach the employee's duty of loy-
alty. Neither of these actions are in conflict with the interests of Delphi, and Hamel performed them on
his own time.
27. Answer : B
PRACTICE PROBLEM
1. Adams William and Audrey Charley, both CFA charterholders, are investment advisors at Uptown Se-
curities. William recommends that one of his clients buy Alpha Company based on research con-
ducted by Uptown. Charley recommends that one of her clients sell Alpha Company based on re-
search conducted by another brokerage firm for general distribution. Both recommendations are con-
sistent with each client's investment objectives and within the context of their entire portfolios. Neither
William nor Charley has reason to suspect that any information contained in the research reports from
these two sources is inaccurate or inadequately supported. According to Standard V(A) Diligence and
Reasonable Basis, do William and Charley have a reasonable basis for making their investment rec-
ommendations?
A) Only one of these advisors has a reasonable basis for his or her recommendation.
insist that the supervisor change the earnings forecast or remove his (the ana-
C)
lyst's) name from the report.
3. The following scenarios refer to recommendations made by two analysts.
Jonny López, CFA, is a quantitative analyst at Quantlogic, Inc. López uses computer-generated
screens to differentiate value and growth stocks based on accounting numbers such as sales,
cash flow, earnings, and book value. Based on her analysis of all domestically traded stocks in
the U.S. over the past year, López concludes that value stocks as a class have underperformed
growth stocks over that period. Using only this analysis, she recommends that account executives
B) López has a reasonable basis for his recommendation, but Capelli does not.
C) Capelli has a reasonable basis for his recommendation, but López does not.
4. A client calls his money manager and asks the manager to liquidate a large portion of his assets un-
der management for an emergency. The manager warns the client of the risk of selling many assets
quickly but says that he will try to get the client the best possible price. This is a violation of:
A) Standard V(A), Diligence and Reasonable Basis.
has violated CFA Institute Standards of Professional Conduct because she did
B)
not have a reasonable and adequate basis for making this recommendation.
violated the Standards by not having a reasonable basis for making the pur-
C)
chase of Datagen.
9. In the process of recommending an investment, in order to comply with Standard V(A), Diligence and
Reasonable Basis, a CFA Institute member must:
A) do both of these.
Standard V(A), Diligence and Reasonable Basis, if she does not first verify the
B)
data in the table is accurate.
B) short selling assets that have had a good previous year to all clients.
an increased allocation of Treasury bills (T-bills) for all portfolios of assets that
C)
have increased dramatically in the previous year.
14. Several years ago, Milton and Lili, a full service investment firm, managed the initial public offering of
eCom, Inc. Now, eCom wants Milton and Lili to underwrite its secondary public offering. A senior
manager at Milton and Lili asks Brent Whitman, CFA, one of its equity analysts, to write a favorable
research report on eCom to help make the underwriting a success. Whitman conducts a thorough
analysis of eCom and concludes that the company has serious problems that do not suggest a favor-
able financial outlook. Nevertheless, Whitman writes a favorable report because he is fearful of losing
his job. Milton and Lili publicly distribute a report that only contains a buy recommendation and a brief
description of the basic characteristics of eCom. Whitman has violated:
Both Standard I(B) Independence and Objectivity and Standard V(A) Diligence
A)
and Reasonable Basis.
report Bulow to the firm's compliance department for violation of Standard V(A)
C)
"Diligence and Reasonable Basis."
17. Standard V(B), Communication with Clients and Prospective Clients, least likely requires members to:
use reasonable judgment regarding the inclusion or exclusion of relevant fac-
A)
tors in research reports.
"I expect Blanding's earnings growth to increase to 12.5% annually in the next
C)
two years."
19. An analyst belongs to a nationally recognized charitable organization, which requires dues for mem-
bership. The analyst has worked out a deal that he provides money management advice in lieu of
paying dues. For this arrangement to comply with the standards, the analyst needs consent from:
A) his supervisor in the organization only.
B) both his supervisor in the organization and his regular place of work.
violated the Standard because he did not thoroughly review and analyze any
B)
information provided by Brisson.
Lavoie violated the Standards because she failed to separate opinion from fact
C)
in her research report.
violated the Code and Standards by not including the insider trading informa-
B)
tion and by not including the credit rating downgrade in her report.
B) Maintain copies of materials that were relied on in preparing the research report.
should report the new information to her immediate supervisor so that they can
B) determine whether or not the marketing department should send out the report
as written.
B) provided that the analyst has a reasonable basis for his or her actions.
C) under no circumstances.
28. An analyst has several groups of clients who are categorized according to their specific needs. Com-
pared to research reports distributed to all of the clients, reports for a specific group:
A) will not be allowed because it violates the Standard III(B), Fair Dealing.
inform the clients of the change and tell them it is based upon an opinion and
C)
not a fact.
30. An analyst finds a stock that has had a low beta given its historical return, but its total risk has been
commensurate with its return. When writing a research report about the stock for clients with well-
diversified portfolios, according to Standard V(B), Communication with Clients and Prospective Cli-
ents, the analyst needs to mention:
A) both the historical beta and total risk and return.
not violated CFA Institute Standards of Professional Conduct because she had
C)
reasonable reason to believe that the statements in her report were true.
33. Hall Bergeron recently joined Bloomington Investments as a research analyst. After spending an af-
ternoon looking through the research team's archives, Bergeron is not sure Bloomington maintains
the records that support the team's analysis and recommendations for the minimum 7-year period
called for by Standard V(C), Record Retention. What is Bergeron's most appropriate course of action?
Decline to participate in any new research until she can verify that the firm is in
A)
compliance with the Standard.
Review the firm's record retention procedures with her supervisor or compli-
B) ance officer to ensure that they comply with the Standard, or suggest ways to
bring them into compliance.
Keep her own copies of the relevant records and maintain them at home for a
C)
minimum 7-year holding period.
34. According to CFA Institute Standards of Professional Conduct, members should do all of the following
to meet the compliance procedures for having a reasonable basis for recommendations, EXCEPT:
A) analyze the client's investment needs.
28. Answer : B
According to Standard V(B), an analyst can use reasonable judgment regarding the exclusion of some
facts and should include more basic facts for reports to wider audiences. The key issue is that analysts
should tailor their reports to the intended audience.
29. Answer : C
According to Standard V(B), the analyst must inform the clients of the change and tell them it is based
upon an opinion and not a fact. Making an identical change in two portfolios may be a violation of this
standard if the needs of the clients are not identical.
30. Answer : B
Using reasonable judgment, an analyst may exclude certain factors from research reports. Since the re-
port will be delivered to clients with well-diversified portfolios, total risk is not as important as beta. Given
that the total risk has been only commensurate with historical return, furthermore, then the analyst is not
negligent by not mentioning it.
31. Answer : A
A report can be made via any means of communication, including in-person recommendation, telephone
conversation, media broadcast, and transmission by computer such as on the Internet.
32. Answer : B
Standard V(B), Communication with Clients and Prospective Clients. Members must distinguish between
fact and opinion in the presentation of a research report or investment recommendation. Belanger violated
the standard because she misrepresented management's enthusiasm by turning it into certainty.
33. Answer : B
Standard V(C), Record Retention requires that members maintain all records supporting analysis, rec-
ommendations, actions, and all other investment related communications with clients and prospects. The
recommended procedures for compliance with Standard V(C) state that the record-keeping requirement is
generally the firm's responsibility. These records are the property of the firm, so Bergeron keeping her
own copies at home could potentially violate Standard IV(A), Loyalty. Bergeron's best course of action is
to review the firm's procedures with her supervisor and recommend any improvements that are necessary
to bring them into compliance with Standard V(C).
34. Answer : C
Standard V(C), Record Retention, requires that members maintain appropriate records to support the rea-
sonableness of such recommendations or actions, but they are not required to distribute a research report
with each recommendation.
35. Answer : A
Caron is most likely in violation of Standard V(C) "Record Retention" because the supporting documenta-
tion is unavailable. He needs to recreate the supporting records based on information gathered through
public sources or the covered company.
1. Howard Poirier, CFA, is writing a research report on Paulsen Group, an investment advisory firm.
Poirier's brother-in-law holds shares of Paulsen stock. Poirier has recently interviewed for a position
with Paulsen and expects a second interview. According to the Standards, Poirier's most appropriate
action is to disclose in the research report:
his brother-in-law's holding of Paulsen stock and that he is being considered
A)
for a job at Paulsen.
5. Philipins Richard, CFA, is preparing a purchase recommendation on Aneas Lumber for his research
firm. All of the following are potential conflicts of interest EXCEPT:
A) Richard's research firm has a large stake of ownership in Aneas Lumber.
B) disclose her ownership in the stocks to both her supervisor and the board.
Narrow must disclose to Dominion his relationship with the president of Miracle
B)
but not his ownership of shares in Wonder.
Narrow must disclose to Dominion both his relationship with the president of
C)
Miracle and his ownership of shares in Wonder.
13. John Wood, CFA, follows the Amity Paving Company for his employer. Which of the following scenar-
ios is Wood least likely to have to disclose to his employer.
A) Wood's ownership of Amity securities.
The fact that Wood's son worked at Amity as a laborer during the summer
C)
while in school.
violated the Standards by not disclosing her salary, fee percentage, and per-
B)
formance bonus.
not violated the Standards because there is no conflict of interest with a poten-
C)
tial prospect in the employment arrangements.
15. An analyst is serving on the Board of Directors of a local publicly traded company. To avoid violating
the CFA Institute Code and Standards, the analyst must disclose this to:
A) only his employer.
B) no one since it should not cause a conflict of interest for the analyst.
B) neither employers nor clients, but the member must use "prudent judgment."
B) his clients.
C) his employer.
24. Samuel Goldstein, CFA, is an analyst for Tamarack Securities. Goldstein's father, Reuben, has a cli-
ent account at Tamarack. In ordering trades, Goldstein should place orders in:
his clients' and his father's accounts in the first group and his personal ac-
B)
counts in the second group.
congruent with the Standard even if he has a direct personal interest in his
C)
brother's account.
27. An analyst has a large personal holding of a security, and he has just determined that market condi-
tions warrant selling this security. The analyst contacts clients who have a position in the security and
advises them to sell some or all of the security. After waiting 24 hours, he sells the security from his
personal accounts. This is:
A) a violation of Standard VI(B), Priority of Transactions.
must notify his supervisor about the stock according to Standard VI(B), Priority
B)
of Transactions, to see if it is appropriate for the portfolio that he manages.
may invest in the stock because the analyst would not purchase the stock for
C)
the bond portfolio he manages.
30. Rivera Hall, CFA, is a portfolio manager for an investment advisory firm. He plans to sell 10,000
shares of Park Rockport, Inc. to finance his daughter's new restaurant venture, but his firm recently
upgraded the stock to "strong buy." In order to remain in compliance with Standard VI(B) "Priority of
Transactions," Hall must:
A) not sell the shares of Park Rockport.
delay selling the shares until a firm client makes an offsetting purchase to
B)
avoid having a market impact.
C) notify his firm of his intention to sell the shares before selling the shares.
31. Robinson Arsenault, CFA, refers many of his clients to Hall Towers, CPA, for accounting services. In
return, Towers performs routine services for Arsenault, such as his tax returns, for no charge. With re-
spect to this relationship, Arsenault:
A) is in violation of both Standard V(B) and III(B).
B) is only in violation of Standard III(B), Fair Dealing, by not putting the client first.
C) must disclose to his clients that Towers provides services for Arsenault's personal benefit.
32. Robinson Arsenault, CFA, refers many of his clients to Hall Towers, CPA, for accounting services. In
return, Towers performs routine services for Arsenault, such as his tax returns, for no charge. Towers
has just become a member of CFA Institute. With this development, Towers must:
only reveal to the prospects referred by Arsenault that he performs services for
A)
Arsenault.
may not satisfy the Standard if such information is only provided after the re-
B)
ceivers of the information have become clients.
exceeds the requirement of the Standard because she does not need to reveal
C)
the fees she pays to those that refer clients to her.
34. Vikash Hill, CFA, leases office space from Land Bank in exchange for an agreement that Hill will pay
Land 20% of any fees paid by Land customers to Hill for investment management services. Hill also
the terms of the arrangement with Bloom, but not the terms of the arrangement
B)
with Land Bank.
neither the Land Bank nor Bloom arrangements, but may disclose them if he
C)
chooses to do so.
35. If a CFA charterholder receives a referral fee, he must:
consult with the firm's compliance officer, and follow his or her instructions
A)
concerning disclosure.
disclose the nature of the fee arrangement to the client before entering into a
B)
formal agreement.
Referral fees must be disclosed after proceeding with an agreement for ser-
C)
vice.
37. Standard VI(C), Referral Fees, requires the member to do all of the following EXCEPT:
make required disclosures to the referred client before an agreement is made
A)
to provide services to the referred client.
disclose to the referred client how much the referral source was paid to refer
B)
the client.
disclose to the referred client the percentage of the member's business that
C)
comes from referrals.
38. A member or candidate that receives consideration from others for the recommendation of products
or services, must disclose the estimated dollar value of the consideration paid in:
A) cash or soft dollars only.
B) cash only.
need not disclose the benefits received for referring clients because the clients
B)
were developed in the course of his accounting practice.
C) must disclose the benefits received for referring clients to the law firm.
1. Answers : C
The possibility of employment with Paulsen creates a potential conflict of interest which Poirier must dis-
close. Standard VI(A) Disclosure of Conflicts does not require disclosure of his brother-in-law's ownership
of Paulsen stock.
2. Answers : A
Standard VI(A) (Disclosure of Conflicts) requires that Lefebvre make full disclosure of all matters that
could impair his objectivity. Lefebvre needs to disclose his personal holding in QRS stock not only to his
employer, but also in any subsequent reports that he authors. Getting the approval of his supervisor does
not solve this conflict problem for Lefebvre. Selling his shares of QRS would be one solution to Lefebvre's
situation, however this action is not required by the Standards.
3. Answers : C
The only thing the analyst needs to do is to disclose the ownership of the stock to his supervisor in accor-
dance to Standard VI(A), Disclosure of Conflicts. Refusing to receive the stock could be acceptable op-
tion, but is not required.
4. Answers : C
Standard VI(A), Disclosure of Conflicts, requires that Demers inform Dupree of his involvement with Mid-
west University given that Demers's new role can be expected to be time consuming and possibly affect
his responsibilities at Dupree. Zinn is required to disclose her ownership of Ranger stock before conduct-
ing the research report because such ownership could bias her objectivity in making a recommendation.
She should have discussed owning the stock with her supervisor before beginning to write the research
report on Ranger.
5. Answers : B
Standard VI(A) defines what constitutes a conflict of interest with regard to clients, prospective clients, and
employers. All of these represent potential conflicts of interest with the exception of the cousin working for
Aneas Lumber in a job that is unrelated to the Aneas' financing.
6. Answers : B
Standard VI(A) requires that Members and Candidates fully disclose all matters which may impair their in-
dependence or objectivity or interfere with their duties to their employer, clients and prospects.
7. Answers : A
Unless the firm's real estate holdings would impair their independence and objectivity, they need not be
disclosed.
8. Answers : C
Both of these items are explicitly listed in the discussion of Standard VI(A), Disclosure of Conflicts.
9. Answers : A
Couture could be affected by his position on the board because he may tend to favor investments in firms
that do cancer research. To comply with Standard VI(A), Disclosure of Conflicts, Couture must inform his
supervisor of this relationship and describe his responsibilities on the board. Even if his supervisor does
not find the relationship troublesome, any subsequent action that could lead to a conflict of interest should
be discussed with the firm's compliance officer.
10. Answers : A
From the given information, there is no conflict of interest and no violation of Standard VI(A), Disclosure of
Conflicts. A conflict could arise if the board were to ask Parent what the effect on the college's endowment
would be if they were to divest. At that time she would have to reveal her ownership in the stocks to make
known the possible conflict of interest.
11. Answers : C
Granson violated Standard VI(A), Disclosure of Conflicts, by failing to inform DSD of her involvement with
Brightwood College. Granson could reasonably be expected to be involved with investment policy deci-
sions at Brightwood that could affect DSD because DSD manages a portion of Brightwood's endowment.
Gosselin also violated Standard VI(A), because she ignored a directive of her employer. Her purchase of
25. Answers : C
Family accounts that are client accounts should be treated like any other firm account and should neither
be given special treatment nor be disadvantaged because of an existing family relationship with the mem-
ber or candidate. Members or candidates may undertake transactions in accounts for which they are a
beneficial owner only after their clients and employers have had adequate opportunity to act on the rec-
ommendation. Personal transactions include those made for the member or candidate's own account, for
family (including spouse, children, and other immediate family members) accounts, and for accounts in
which the member or candidate has a direct or indirect pecuniary interest, such as a trust or retirement
account. It could be argued that Rock is a beneficial owner of his wife's account and the reason why his
wife's account should be treated like any other client account is because it does not state that Rock
makes the trades in his wife's account. From that we are to infer that another person other than Rock is
managing his wife's account thus she should be treated like any other client.
26. Answers : A
Client accounts that belong to family members should be treated like any other account so long as there is
no direct interest on the part of the analyst. In other words, these types of accounts should not be at a dis-
advantage relative to other client accounts when there is no direct interest on the part of the analyst over-
seeing the account.
27. Answers : B
According to Standard VI(B), an analyst must give clients the first opportunity to buy or sell a security be-
fore the analyst acts on his own behalf. A 24-hour waiting period seems reasonable under the circum-
stances presented. The analyst seems to have a reasonable basis, and there is no reason to believe that
he is violating Standard III(B) since he contacted all of the clients who have a position in the security.
28. Answers : B
Just because the clients know of a practice does not make it right. The analyst must put the clients first. It
is a violation for the analyst to participate in a hot new issue which can lower the allocation to any given
client below what that client would prefer. This is tantamount to putting the analyst's interests ahead of the
clients' interests.
29. Answers : C
The problem says the analyst came across the speculative stock investment. We do not know if the ana-
lyst neglected his duties. Since such an investment is clearly not appropriate for a high-grade bond fund,
the analyst may invest in the stock without any restrictions relating to the fund.
30. Answers : C
36. Answers : A
According to Standard VI(C), referral fees must be disclosed before proceeding with an agreement for
service in order for the client or employer to compute the full cost of the service and to evaluate any po-
tential partiality of the recommendation.
37. Answers : C
The applicable Standard, VI(C), does not require a member to disclose the percentage of their business
that comes from referrals.
Standard VI(C) states, "Members shall disclose to clients and prospects any consideration or benefit re-
ceived by the member or delivered to others for the recommendation of any services to the client or pros-
pect." Appropriate disclosure means telling the client or prospect, before agreeing to perform services, of
any benefit given or received for recommending the member's services.
38. Answers : C
According to Standard VI(C), Referral Fees, consideration includes all fees that are paid in cash, soft dol-
lars, and in kind. Referral fees must be disclosed to the client or employer before engaging in an agree-
ment to provide services.
39. Answers : B
According to Standard VI(C), Referral Fees, consideration includes all fees that are paid in cash, soft dol-
lars, and in kind. Referral fees must be disclosed to the client or employer whether the consideration is re-
ceived by or paid to others for the recommendation.
40. Answers : C
Standard VI(C), Referral Fees, requires members to disclose to clients and prospects any consideration
or benefit received by the member or delivered to others for the recommendation of any services to a cli-
ent or prospect. Hamel has received a benefit (free tickets), which must be disclosed to the clients re-
ferred by Hamel. Disclosure will allow the clients to determine any partiality of the recommendation.
1. Sydney Flores, Level II CFA candidate, posts blogs for her exam study group three days after the
exam to vent her frustrations over the exam. However, to avoid disclosing what was actually on the
exam, she only discusses topic areas she thought would be on the exam that were not. She writes
"...the topics selected were unnecessarily obscure. Important items like FCF, DDM, and Residual In-
come were ignored completely..." Flores is most likely:
A) not in violation as the information was only about what was NOT on the exam.
not in violation as the information about the actual exam contents was posted
B)
after the conclusion of the exam.
not in violation as the information about the actual exam contents was posted
C)
after the conclusion of the exam.
9. Which of the following is least likely an appropriate use of the CFA designation?
Cox Michaud, as a CFA charterholder, expects to outperform the market be-
A)
cause CFA charterholders have on average outperformed their peers.
Cox Michaud has earned the CFA designation by passing three exams, all
C)
three on his first attempts.
10. Edwards Perron, a stock broker who has completed Level I of the CFA program and is registered for
the next Level II CFA exam, may:
A) use the Level I CFA designation since he has passed the Level I exam.
B) not mention that he is involved in the CFA Program until he has passed all three levels.
C) "I am a CFA."
13. Which of the following is an appropriate statement for a Level II CFA candidate to make?
A) I am a Level II CFA.
required to seek authorization from Hamel to copy the spreadsheets and ac-
B) knowledge Hamel for developing the initial model and Moody's Investors Ser-
vice as the source of the data.
Barney Latrell, when introducing himself to a prospective client, says, "I com-
B) pleted my CFA in 1995, which required passing three six-hour examinations
over a three year period."
Lee Cabell has satisfied all the requirements imposed by CFA Institute for the
C) right to use the Chartered Financial Analyst designation. His business cards
say: Lee Cabell, C.F.A.
17. statement annually. Which of the following statements is CORRECT regarding his status with CFA In-
stitute? The analyst:
A) cannot refer to ever having been a member.
B) Yes, because saying she passed exams on the first try is not appropriate.
a violation for both mentioning the CFA designation and saying the firm can
C)
guarantee better service.
23. All of the following statements in promotion of your services are in violation of CFA Institute Standards
of Practice handbook EXCEPT:
I guarantee under my management that you will receive returns in excess of
A)
the market index average.
based upon my research, you will achieve a 20% compound annual rate of
C)
return on small cap stocks over the next 5 years.
24. Rio Rousseau has earned the right to use the CFA designation and wants to indicate this on his busi-
ness card. According to CFA Institute Standards of Professional Conduct, which of the following is the
proper use of the professional designation on his business card?
A) Rio Rousseau, cfa.
B) Yes, because he cannot put the initials "CFA" on his business card.
C) No, because his CFA Institute membership indicates that he is indeed trustworthy.
27. Martin Champagne and Lopez Fortier prepared the following information to be included in the promo-
tional materials of their employer, Jobing Securities.
Martin Champagne is one of five CFAs at Jobing Securities. She satisfied all requirements for the
CFA designation in 1998.
Lopez Fortier holds a CFA Level I designation, which he passed in 2001. He is registered to take
the next scheduled Level II examination.
Are the promotional materials prepared by Champagne and Fortier fully consistent with the Standards
of Professional Conduct?
Learning Outcomes —
The candidate should be able to:
a. explain why the GIPS standards were created, what parties the GIPS standards apply to, and who
is served by the standards;
b. explain the construction and purpose of composites in performance reporting;
c. explain the requirements for verification.
The objective of this reading is to orient the Level I candidate approaching the assigned sections of
the GIPS standards. It explains why the GIPS standards were created, who can claim compliance,
and who benefits from compliance. It also introduces the key notion of composites, states the pur-
pose of verification, and previews the structure of the Standards.
IV. Composites
One of the key concepts of the Standards is the required use of composites. A composite is an aggregation
of one or more portfolios managed according to a similar investment mandate, objective, or strategy. A com-
posite must include all actual, fee-paying, discretionary portfolios managed in accordance with the same in-
vestment mandate, objective, or strategy. For example, if a GIPS-compliant firm presents its track record for
a Global Equity Composite (the Composite), the Composite must include all portfolios that are managed, or
have historically been managed, in the firm’s Global Equity strategy. The firm may not subjectively select
which Global Equity portfolios will be included in or excluded from the calculation and presentation of the
Global Equity Composite. The determination of which portfolios to include in the Composite should be done
according to pre-established criteria (i.e., on an ex-ante basis), not after the fact. This prevents a firm from in-
cluding only their best-performing portfolios in the Composite.
V. Verification
Firms that claim compliance with the GIPS standards are responsible for their claim of compliance and
for maintaining that compliance. That is, firms self-regulate their claim of compliance. Once a firm claims
compliance with the Standards, they may voluntarily hire an independent third party to perform a verifi-
cation in order to increase confidence in the firm’s claim of compliance. Verification may also increase
the knowledge of the firm’s performance measurement team and improve the consistency and quality of
the firm’s compliant presentations.
Verification is performed with respect to an entire firm, not on specific composites. Verification does not
ensure the accuracy of any specific composite presentation. Verification tests:
whether the investment firm has complied with all the composite construction requirements of the
GIPS standards on a firm-wide basis, and
whether the firm’s policies and procedures are designed to calculate and present performance in
compliance with the GIPS standards.
Verification must be performed by an independent third party. A firm cannot perform its own verification.
Third-party verification brings additional credibility to a firm’s claim of compliance. A verified firm may
provide existing and prospective clients with greater assurance about its claim of compliance with the
GIPS standards. Verification may also provide improved internal processes and procedures as well as
marketing advantages to the firm.
Learning Outcomes —
The candidate should be able to:
a. describe the key features of the GIPS standards and the fundamentals of compliance;
b. describe the scope of the GIPS standards with respect to an investment firm’s definition and his-
torical performance record;
c. explain how the GIPS standards are implemented in countries with existing standards for per-
formance reporting and describe the appropriate response when the GIPS standards and local
regulations conflict;
d. describe the nine major sections of the GIPS standards.
Global Passport
Asset managers and both existing and prospective clients benefit from an established global standard for cal-
culating and presenting investment performance. Investment practices, regulation, performance measure-
ment, and reporting of performance vary considerably from country to country. By adhering to a global stan-
dard, firms in countries with minimal or no investment performance standards will be able to compete for busi-
ness on an equal footing with firms from countries with more developed standards. Firms from countries with
established practices will have more confidence in being fairly compared with local firms when competing for
business in countries that have not previously adopted performance standards. Performance standards that
are accepted globally enable investment firms to measure and present their investment performance so that
investors can readily compare investment performance among firms.
Investor Confidence
Investment managers that adhere to investment performance standards help assure investors that the firm’s
investment performance is complete and fairly presented. Both prospective and existing clients of investment
firms benefit from a global investment performance standard by having a greater degree of confidence in the
performance information presented to them.
Objectives
The establishment of a voluntary global investment performance standard leads to an accepted set of best
practices for calculating and presenting investment performance that is readily comparable among investment
firms, regardless of geographic location. These standards also facilitate a dialogue between investment firms
and their existing and prospective clients regarding investment performance.
The goals of the GIPS Executive Committee are:
To establish investment industry best practices for calculating and presenting investment performance
that promote investor interests and instill investor confidence;
To obtain worldwide acceptance of a single standard for the calculation and presentation of investment
performance based on the principles of fair representation and full disclosure;
To promote the use of accurate and consistent investment performance data;
To encourage fair, global competition among investment firms without creating barriers to entry; and
To foster the notion of industry “self-regulation” on a global basis.
Overview
Key features of the GIPS standards include the following:
Compliance
Firms must take all steps necessary to ensure that they have satisfied all the requirements of the GIPS stan-
dards before claiming compliance. Firms are strongly encouraged to perform periodic internal compliance
Effective Date
The effective date for the 2010 edition of the GIPS standards is 1 January 2011. Compliant presentations that
include performance for periods that begin on or after 1 January 2011 must be prepared in accordance with
the 2010 edition of the GIPS standards. Prior editions of the GIPS standards may be found on the GIPS web-
site (www.gipsstandards.org).
Fundamentals of Compliance
Fundamentals of Compliance—Requirements
0.A.1
FIRMS MUST comply with all the REQUIREMENTS of the GIPS standards, including any updates, Guidance
Statements, interpretations, Questions & Answers (Q&As), and clarifications published by CFA Institute and
the GIPS Executive Committee, which are available on the GIPS standards website (www.gipsstandards.org)
as well as in the GIPS Handbook.
0.A.2
FIRMS MUST comply with all applicable laws and regulations regarding the calculation and presentation of per-
formance.
0.A.3
FIRMS MUST NOT present performance or performance-related information that is false or misleading.
0.A.4
The GIPS standards MUST be applied on a FIRM-wide basis.
0.A.5
FIRMS MUST document their policies and procedures used in establishing and maintaining compliance with the
GIPS standards, including ensuring the existence and ownership of client assets, and MUST apply them con-
sistently.
0.A.12
FIRMS MUST be defined as an investment firm, subsidiary, or division held out to clients or PROSPECTIVE CLI-
ENTS as a DISTINCT BUSINESS ENTITY.
0.A.13
For periods beginning on or after 1 January 2011, TOTAL FIRM ASSETS MUST be the aggregate FAIR VALUE of all
discretionary and non-discretionary assets managed by the FIRM. This includes both fee-paying and non-fee-
1
paying PORTFOLIOS.
0.A.14
TOTAL FIRM ASSETS MUST include assets assigned to a SUB-ADVISOR provided the FIRM has discretion over the
selection of the SUB-ADVISOR.
0.A.15
Changes in a FIRM’S organization MUST NOT lead to alteration of historical COMPOSITE performance.
0.A.16
When the FIRM jointly markets with other firms, the FIRM claiming compliance with the GIPS standards MUST be
sure that it is clearly defined and separate relative to other firms being marketed, and that it is clear
which FIRM is claiming compliance.
ADDITIONAL QUESTIONS
1. Oversight and responsibility for the CFA Institute Professional Conduct Program is main-
tained by the:
1. Board of Governors
2. CEO
3. Disciplinary Review Committee
2. If a member or candidate does not accept the charges and proposed sanction levied by CFA In-
stitute under the Professional Conduct Program, the matter is referred to a panel composed of
1. Board of Governors
2. Senior CFA Institute executives
3. Disciplinary Review Committee
3. Sanctions that can be imposed by CFA institute under the Professional Conduct Program in-
clude all of the following except:
1. Public Censure
2. Fine
3. Suspension of membership
4. Bob Hadrell, CFA, has recently joined a new firm that currently reviewing its internal code of eth-
ics. As part of this review, the firm has asked Hadrell for a summary of the CFA Institute Code of
Ethics and Standards of Professional Conduct. Hadrell makes the following two statements:
Statement 1: "Members of CFA Institute and candidates for the CFA designation must pro-
mote the integrity of and uphold the rules governing capital markets”
Statement 2: "Integrity of Capital Markets: Market Manipulation.”
Hadrell should describe:
1. Both Statement 1 and Statement 2 as Standards of Professional Conduct
2. Statement 1 as a component of the Code of Ethics and Statement 2 as a Standard of Pro-
fessional Conduct
3. Statement 1 as a Standard of Professional Conduct and Statement 2 as a component of
the Code of Ethics
5. “Priority of Transactions” is included as a sub-section to which CFA Institute Standard of Pro-
fessional Conduct?
1. Duties to clients
2. Investment analysis, recommendations and actions
3. Conflicts of interest
1. The CFA Institute Board of Governors maintains oversight and responsibility for the Professional
Conduct Program (PCP), which, in conjunction with the Disciplinary Review Committee (DRC),
is responsible for enforcement of the Code and Standards.
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3. Sanctions imposed by CFA Institute may have significant consequences; they include public
censure, suspension of membership and use of the CFA designation, and revocation of the CFA
charter. Candidates enrolled in the CFA Program who have violated the Code and Standards or
testing policies may be suspended or prohibited from further participation in the CFA Program.
4. The Code of Ethics contains six components that address general areas of ethical behavior. The
Standards of Professional Conduct are seven areas of Professional Conduct that deal with
specific types of behavior in certain situations, e.g., Market Manipulation.
1. Standard I(A):Knowledge of the Law recommends that members and candidates take the
following intermediate steps to dissociate from ethical violations of others when direct
discussions with the person or persons committing the violation are unsuccessful. The first step
should be to attempt to stop the behavior by bringing it to the attention of the employer through a
supervisor or the firm's compliance department. If this attempt is unsuccessful, then members and
candidates have a responsibility to step away and dissociate from the activity. Resignation of
their position should be considered as a last resort.
2. Members and candidates who practice in multiple jurisdictions may be subject to varied
securities laws and regulations. If applicable law is stricter than the requirements of the Code and
Standards, members and candidates must adhere to applicable law; otherwise, they must adhere
to the Code and Standards.
4. Standard I(B):Independence and Objectivity recommends that gifts from clients be disclosed to
employers and that gifts from related parties be limited. Standard I(B) does not preclude
customary, ordinary business-related entertainment as long as its purpose is not to influence or
reward members or candidates. Firms should consider a strict value limit for acceptable gifts that
is based on the local or regional customs and should address whether the limit is per gift or an
aggregate annual value.
5. According to Standard I(C): Misrepresentation, best practice would be either to obtain the
complete study from its original author and cite only that author or to use the information
provided by the financial journal and cite both sources.
6. Standard I(C): Misrepresentation, applies to verbal statements and those made on Internet
platforms. Work completed by employees is the property of the firm and the firm retains the right
to continue using the work completed after a member or candidate has left the organization. The
firm may issue future reports without providing attribution to the prior analysts. A member or
candidate cannot, however, reissue a previously released report solely under his or her name.
7. Standard I(D) addresses all conduct that reflects poorly on the professional integrity, good
reputation, or competence of members and candidates. Any act that involves lying, cheating,
stealing, or other dishonest conduct is a violation of this standard if the offense reflects adversely
on a member's or candidate's professional activities. Although CFA Institute discourages any sort
of unethical behavior by members and candidates, the Code and Standards are primarily aimed at
conduct and actions related to a member's or candidate's professional life, hence the extramarital
affair is not likely to be considered a violation. A portfolio manager not expending the necessary
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9. Cobo has violated Standard II(A) by passing along material non-public information concerning
the ongoing product tests, which the fund used to trade in the securities and options of the related
company. Cobo cannot simply rely on the agreements signed by individuals who participate in
expert networks that state that he has not received information that would prohibit his trading
activity. He must make his own determination whether information he received through these
arrangements reaches a materiality threshold that would affect his trading abilities.
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11. The first answer is an example of information-based market manipulation. The second and third
answers are examples of transaction-based manipulation.
12. Standard II(B): Market Manipulation applies to manipulating transactions and information,
including manipulating the inputs to a model in order to achieve short-term gain, which is the
case with Moon. The second answer is not correct since it is most likely that the positive inputs to
the model represent Moon's desire for higher compensation rather than genuinely reflecting his
view.
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14. Part of a member's or candidate's duty of loyalty includes voting proxies in an informed and
responsible manner. Proxies have economic value to a client, and members and candidates must
ensure that they properly safeguard and maximize this value. An investment manager who fails
to vote, casts a vote without considering the impact of the question, or votes blindly with
management on nonroutine governance issues (e.g., a change in company capitalization) may
violate this standard. Voting of proxies is an integral part of the management of investments.
A cost-benefit analysis may show that voting all proxies may not benefit the client, so voting
proxies may not be necessary in all instances.
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16. Members and candidates should maintain a list of clients and their holdings to understand which
clients are most impacted by changes in recommendations. They should also limit the number of
people privy to the knowledge that there is due to be a change in recommendations in order to
prevent inequitable disclosure. The Code and Standards recommend that members and candidates
shorten the time frame between decision and dissemination in order to reduce the chance of
unfair dissemination to select clients.
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23. Planning to compete with your current employer is not a breach of Standard IV(A): Loyalty, as
long as the competition does not occur until the employee has started his new employment, and
the employee does not attempt to solicit the business of clients of the firm until his current
employment has ended. Contacting the clients of his current employer using publicly available
information will not be in violation of the standard.
24. Although Standard IV(A) does not preclude members or candidates from entering into an
independent business while still employed, members and candidates who plan to engage in
independent practice for compensation must notify their employer and describe the types of
services they will render to prospective independent clients, the expected duration of the services,
and the compensation for the services. Members and candidates should not render services until
they receive consent from their employer to all the terms of the arrangement.
25. Morris delivers his presentations at Robearn as part of his employment, and giving similar
speeches in a public environment can be seen as earning additional compensation from services
rendered to the employer. Members and candidates must obtain permission for additional
compensation/benefits because such arrangements may affect loyalties and objectivity and create
potential conflicts of interest. Disclosure allows an employer to consider the outside
arrangements when evaluating the actions and motivations of members and candidates.
Moreover, the employer is entitled to have full knowledge of all compensation/benefit
arrangements so as to be able to assess the true cost of the services members or candidates are
providing.
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29. If members and candidates rely on secondary or third-party research, they must make reasonable
and diligent efforts to determine whether such research is sound. Secondary research is defined
as research conducted by someone else in the member's or candidate's firm. Third-party research
is research conducted by entities outside the member's or candidate's firm, such as a brokerage
firm, bank, or research firm. If a member or candidate has reason to suspect that either secondary
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33. Members and candidates should understand that although employers and local regulators are
developing digital media retention policies, these policies may lag behind the advent of new
communication channels. Such a lag places greater responsibility on the individual to ensure that
all relevant information is retained. Examples of nonprint media formats that should be retained
include, but are not limited to, e-mails, text messages, blog posts, and Twitter posts.
34. LEAVE IT
35. Standard VI(A) protects investors and employers by requiring members and candidates to fully
disclose to clients, potential clients, and employers all actual and potential conflicts of interest.
Although this holding may not be material, Coryell must disclose it in the report and to her
employer before writing the report because of the potential perceived conflict of interest.
36. Roach is likely in breach of Standard III(C) since he has changed the risk profile of the portfolios
he manages without any change in the circumstances of the investor that would justify this
action. Roach has violated Standard VI(A) by failing to inform his clients of the change in his
compensation arrangement with his employer, which has created a conflict of interest between
his compensation and his clients' objectives.
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38. The junior employee violated Standard VI(B) by placing personal transactions ahead of client
transactions. In addition, Bernard violated Standard IV(C): Responsibilities of Supervisors by
permitting the employee to continue to perform his assigned tasks without having signed the
personal account dealing agreement of the firm.
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41. Standard VII(A) prohibits members from disclosing and/or soliciting confidential material gained
prior to or during the exam and grading processes with those outside the CFA exam development
process. Bubsi has solicited confidential information, hence he has violated the Standard.
Confidential exam information includes the broad topics that were tested in an exam disclosed by
Futura, hence he is in violation of the Standards.
43. According to Standard VII(B): Reference to CFA Institute, the CFA Designation, and the CFA
Program, both Evans and Hodges have violated the Standards. The CFA and Chartered Financial
Analyst designations must always be used as adjectives, never as nouns or common names. The
CFA designation should not be given more prominence (e.g., larger or bold font) than the
charterholder's name.
44. If a candidate passes each level of the exam in consecutive years and wants to state that he or she
did so, that is not a violation of Standard VII(B) because it is a statement of fact. If the candidate
then goes on to claim or imply superior ability by obtaining the designation in only 3 years,
however, he or she is in violation of Standard VII(B).
EXPLANATION:
A composite is an aggregation of one or more portfolios managed according to a similar investment
mandate, objective, or strategy.
2. All of the following are misleading practices which justify the existence of the GIPS standards,
except:
1. Survivorship bias
2. Representative accounts
3. Use of Composites
EXPLANATION:
Survivorship bias is related to presenting a performance history that excludes portfolios with poor
performance. “Representative accounts” involves selecting a top-performing portfolio to represent
the firm's overall investment results. Use of composites, aggregations of portfolios managed to a
similar mandate, is required by GIPS and aims to remove these issues from performance
presentation.
SUMMARY:
Ethics refers to the study of making good choices. Ethics encompasses a set of moral principles
and rules of conduct that provide guidance for our behavior.
Situational influences are external factors that may shape our behavior.
In any given profession, the code of ethics publicly communicates the established principles and
expected behavior of its members.
Members of a profession use specialized knowledge and skills to serve others; they share and
agree to adhere to a common code of ethics to serve others and advance the profession.
A code of ethics helps foster public confidence that members of the profession will use their
specialized skills and knowledge to serve their clients and others.
High ethical standards always matter and are of particular importance in the investment
industry, which is based almost entirely on trust. Clients trust investment professionals to use
their specialized skills and knowledge to serve clients and protect client assets. All stakeholders
gain long-term benefits when investment professionals adhere to high ethical standards.
Rules and laws often codify ethical actions that lead to better outcomes for society or specific
groups of stakeholders.
Organizations and individuals generally adhere to legal standards, but legal standards are often
created to address past ethical failings and do not provide guidance for an evolving and
increasingly complex world.
Legal standards are often rule based. Ethical conduct goes beyond legal standards, balancing
self-interest with the direct and indirect consequences of behavior on others.
A framework for ethical decision making can help people look at and evaluate a decision from
different perspectives, enabling them to identify important issues, make wise decisions, and
limit unintended consequences.