kasinkei

Stephanie Irons, Level II CFA candidate, regularly posts in Internet chat rooms dedicated to candidates studying for the Level II exam. Throughout the season, she and other candidates discuss curriculum content in great detail. Three days after the exam, she returns to the site and vents her frustrations over complicated exam questions by posting questions she remembers on the site, and asking others for their responses and reasoning. Other candidates follow suit and post the questions they remember. Within a week, Irons and her fellow candidates are able to reconstruct about 85% of the exam from their collective memory. Finding the exercise cathartic, she is then able to return to her job and personal life and wait for her results. Irons and her fellow candidates are most likely:

A) in violation of Standard VII(A) "Conduct as Members and Candidates in the CFA Program" for providing confidential information about the exam.

B) in violation of Standard VII(A) "Conduct as Members and Candidates in the CFA Program" for discussing curriculum content in a public forum prior to the exam.

C) not in violation as the information about the actual exam contents was posted after the conclusion of the exam.

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Standard VII(A) "Conduct as Members and Candidates in the CFA Program" prohibits members and candidates from providing confidential information about the exam – even after the conclusion of the exam.

kasinkei

A CFA charterholder coaches a fellow employee as that colleague studies for the CFA exams. The charterholder tells the colleague all that she remembers from her exams and how they were constructed. This is:

A) not a violation of the standards.

B) a violation of Standard VII(B) concerning use of the designation.

C) a violation of Standard I(D) concerning professional misconduct.

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This is a violation because even though it does not necessarily compromise the integrity of the next exam, it does violate the Code of Ethics, Standard I(D) Misconduct, and Standard VII(A) Conduct as Members and Candidates in the CFA Program.  At the beginning of the CFA examination, all candidates are required to sign a statement saying they will not divulge any information regarding the exam to anyone.  In this question the Code of Ethics was broken because it requires CFA candidates and CFA Institute members to act in an ethical manner.  Standard I(D) Misconduct was broken because it requires members and candidates to not engage in any dishonest conduct.  Standard VII(A) Conduct as Members and Candidates in the CFA Program was broken because it requires members and candidates to not disregard the rules and policies of the CFA Program related to examination administration.

kasinkei

While on a business trip, John Hayes, CFA, found a notebook that had apparently been left in the waiting area of an airport. Hayes opened the notebook and read the title: Confidential: Level II CFA Examination. Before returning the notebook to CFA Institute, he made a copy and gave it to Linda Sacket, one of his firm's analysts, who was a candidate for Level II of the CFA examination. Hayes reasoned that CFA Institute would not use these questions and that Sacket would benefit from reviewing these questions. Sacket read the questions and guideline answers before taking the Level II examination. According to the CFA Institute Standards of Professional Conduct:

A) Hayes violated the Standards, but Sacket did not.

B) Sacket violated the Standards, but Hayes did not.

C) both Hayes and Sacket violated the Standards.

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Both violated Standard VII(A) because they committed an act that compromised the validity of the examinations leading to the award of the right to use the CFA designation.