Ethics questions company, arrested, property, his

malbec

1. X, CFA is an environmental activist. As the result of his participation at violent protests, X has been arrested on numerous occasions for trespassing on the property of company that is accused of damaging the environment.

Is X in violation of Standards?

2. X, CFA is an environmental activist in country Y. As the result of his participation at nonviolent protests, X has been arrested on numerous occasions for trespassing on the property of company that is accused of damaging the environment. Trespassing others' properties is NOT permitted by the laws of country Y.

Is X in violation of Standards?

flyinggirl

Posted by: anupamjain008 (IP Logged)
Date: February 7, 2011 09:52AM

1. The protests are VIOLENT. I understand that non-violent civil disobedience is okay. Is even violent protest alright?

- Hmm. I remembered a CFAI example about a guy punching someone in the middle of a stock exchange during his working time. That was a violation of Standard I(D) Misconduct (reflecting poorly on the profession). But in your case, X's actions are not related to work.

2. Surely breaking the law reflects poorly on the profession. If only professional activities counted, then theft by a charterholder is also not a violation of standards.

- Theft is a violation of Standard I(D) Misconduct (a crime regarding frauds and dishonesty), not I(A) Knowledge of the Law. Breaking a law doesn't automatically mean breaking Standard I(D), for example, getting a speeding ticket.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at Saturday, February 12, 2011 at 05:00PM by zestzorb.

CPATrader

^ this.

this question comes up a lot and I have seen CFAI examples that say it is not a violation. Any activity for which you get arrested is illegal, so any protest where you get arrested you are breaking the law regardless of the country. CFAI doesn't care since its not work related.

SeanWest

I 'd say its no for both, since neither is related to professional activity. The people are free to have opinions on political activity and civil disobedience is fine.

i think at least one of them is same as an example in schweser, and their solution as i remember was no as well.

huangxiaoxie

1, no, cuz if there was no law against civil protests, then CFA institute is cool with it
2, yes, cuz he breaking the law which cfa institute is not cool with

xilinx_altera

1. I'd say it's in violation, because violence implies that the member was rioting and causing havoc. That would probably be frowned upon due to its extreme nature. Similarly, if a member murdered someone the institute would probably frown on it.

2. I'd say no.

brainsX

No for both. The CFAI does not find you in violation for crimes involving personal/political stances. The CFAI standards apply to actions which concern actions of dishonesty: lying, cheating, stealing, omitting.... generally anything which would reasonably be considered a breach of trust.

Houjichasan

1. No. Civil disobedience is alright. The CFA draws a big line between crimes of dishonesty/theft over a lapse of judgment (DWI) and civil disobedience.

2. No.

Swanand

2 -- should be Yes.. stricter law applies doesn't it?

CP