Session 1: Ethical and Professional Standards Reading 3: CFA Institute Soft Dollar Standards
LOS c: Determine whether a product or service qualifies as "permissible research" that can be purchased with client brokerage.
Centurion Rivals (CR), an investment advisory firm, receives the following services in return for directing client brokerage to another firm:
- Research reports supporting trades surrounding IPOs, mergers, and bankruptcy proceedings.
- Access to an online database to track current, former, and prospective clients for marketing purposes.
CR wants to advertise that it is in compliance with CFA Institute’s soft dollar standards. CR should:
A) |
advertise compliance until notified by CFA Institute of a violation. | |
B) |
advertise partial compliance based on the differing treatment between the research reports and the online marketing database. | |
C) |
determine whether its policies are in compliance using CFA Institute’s 3-tiered analysis. | |
CR should determine whether its policies are in compliance using CFA Institute’s 3-tiered analysis. CR will learn from this analysis that the online marketing database is a violation. No description of partial compliance is permissible.
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