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CFA® Level III · Ethical and Professional Standards · free lesson
Guidance for Standard VII: Responsibilities as a CFA Institute Member or CFA Candidate
The CFA designation is valuable only as long as clients and employers trust what it represents. Standard VII protects that trust by prohibiting conduct that undermines CFA Institute's programs and exams and by setting rules for how members and candidates describe the designation and their candidacy. This module covers both parts of Standard VII and the practices that individuals and firms can use to stay within them.
What you will learn
1. Recognize conduct that compromises the reputation or integrity of CFA Institute or the CFA designation, or the integrity, validity or security of CFA Institute programs and exams.
- VII(A) protects the integrity of CFA Institute, the designation and its programs and exams.
- Cheating, breaking testing rules and revealing specific exam content are violations, before or after the exam.
- Misrepresenting information on the Professional Conduct Statement is a violation.
- Opinions and criticism of CFA Institute or its exams are allowed, as are discussions of public curriculum topics.
- With multiple testing windows, sharing specific content after an exam can help later candidates.
2. Apply the rules on referring to CFA Institute, membership, the CFA designation and candidacy in the CFA Program.
- Do not misrepresent or exaggerate what membership, the designation or candidacy means.
- Lapsed members (unpaid dues or no Professional Conduct Statement) may not use the designation until reinstated.
- Use CFA as an adjective, never a noun; no partial designations, altered marks or extra prominence.
- Candidates must be registered for the next exam or awaiting results; no 'CFA Level III' or 'expected' forms.
- Never imply that the designation guarantees superior performance.
3. Recommend practices that keep members, candidates and firms within their responsibilities to CFA Institute and its programs.
- Candidates: follow testing rules, never share exam content, describe candidacy accurately.
- Members: keep membership current, answer the Professional Conduct Statement honestly, keep volunteer material confidential.
- Firms: keep a verified register of members and candidates and approve every use of the designation.
- Apply the same integrity controls to internal training exams; cheating there signals cultural problems.
- Correct misuse promptly; serious conduct may lead to a Professional Conduct Program inquiry.
Module at a glance
- VII(A): never compromise the integrity of CFA Institute, the designation or its exams.
- Cheating, breaking testing rules and revealing specific exam content, before or after an exam, are violations.
- Answer the Professional Conduct Statement honestly; misrepresentation to CFA Institute is a VII(A) violation.
- Opinions and criticism of CFA Institute and its exams, and discussion of public curriculum topics, are allowed.
- VII(B): CFA is an adjective; no partial designations, expected dates or superior-performance claims.
- Lapsed members may not use the designation; candidates must be registered for the next exam or awaiting results.
- Firms need a verified register, compliance approval of references to the designation and training on exam confidentiality.
This free module has 3 lessons, 14 practice questions with full explanations.