Ethics

It gets tricky when they start mixing the non-financial illegal activities together with ethics though.

I’ve always enjoyed it too! So many different situations and mix-up of all kinds of activities. 😀

The problem is you start thinking about situations outside of the curriculum, and wether they are ethical or not. An interesting one around exam time was wether you could discuss the material on the exam with another candidate who had sat the same exam? You have both seen the material so it shouldn’t be a violation. What if someone overhears you? The pledge you sign appears to be blanket anyway?

One I thought of the other day (must still be the withdrawal symptoms!) was:
“What if I have some material non-public information, and I really need to sell the underlying securities. I could ask the company to disclose this info, but what if they don’t? If I made a public statement about that info, would it be ok? (Probably not). And what constitutes a public release of info anyway, seeing as I cannot issue an RNS? What if the company never releases this info, am I stuck with the shares indefinitely?

Mind boggling.

I always get confused the minute they start involving relatives and friends.

Around a decade ago, regarding professionalism, a seasoned trial attorney told me that avoiding the appearance of impropriety is just as important as avoiding the impropriety. After many court appearances, admin hearings, gilded finger pointing, 180s out of elevators, etc… nothing ever came about because I always followed that advice. And he didn’t even charge me for it!

The standards of practice handbook is not just for candidates. As candidates get their curriculum books with the Ethics material in one of the books already, the Standards of practice handbook is for everyone else who don’t register for the exams and therefore don’t get delivered the curriculum. That being said, your question was more about what is it that you should read, right? I prefer to read the curriculum but that is a opinion based without facts. So you can weigh the merits of doing either although that would be another pointless exercise. Also, a opinion based without much facts. I mean its hard to chose between either two apples. Someone experienced may be able correct this opinion of mine. 

@Ankita‌ My personal view would be that if you’re working towards the exam, then you should study the curriculum. After all, the exam is based on the curriculum, and that’s included in your fee when you register.

Of course, if you find the Standards of Practice Handbook to be more comprehensive, then you should make yourself fully conversant with that as well. However, if the exam if your priority right now, then read the curriculum and defer the Standards of Practice book until you need it. Personal view also, any other views considered 🙂 

I dunno – I found that the best way to learn Ethics (as in CFA Ethics) was to do practice questions. The material for ethics is so vast that when I read it for the first time I didn’t really know what I was looking for. Doing practice exams quickly showed me what were the important things to remember.

Of course don’t JUST do practice exams, but you should mix reading and practicing.

@Ankita‌ you have 2 months ahead of you – if you are done with all the books and are scoring well on your mock ~ 70%, you could go through the practice handbook, while ensuring that you regularly go through the cfa material…if you feel that going through the handbook will affect the cfa studies, skip the handbook… the curriculum is sufficient from exam perspective…read the handbook when you have more time on your hands

The handbook is the official source of the CFA Institute’s Code of Ethics and Standards of Professional Conduct. It provides concise and focused explanations of the ethical principles and guidelines that CFA charterholders are expected to follow. Some candidates find it helpful to read the handbook as it directly covers the material tested in the exam and provides real-world examples. elastic man

I found that the best way to learn Ethics (as in CFA Ethics) was to do practice questions.