On 28 May 2019, CFA Society Dallas/Fort Worth and CFA Societies Texas provided a platform to promote collaboration between the financial industry and regulators in the form of a one-day event, “Serving the Texas Investor: Ethics, Investor Rights and Regulatory Compliance for the Investment Firm of the Future”.
Pat Swanson, CFA, chair of the CFA Societies Texas Advocacy Committee, explained, “When our team met with the leadership of SEC, FINRA and Texas regulators (TSSB), we asked them how best we might help their efforts to champion investor rights and elevate the integrity of our industry. Their immediate response was that we could create an event to connect them with the CFA Society network and deepen the dialogue between professionals and regulators. An event on this scale was unchartered territory for us but we couldn’t turn down the opportunity.”
Julie Toler, CFA, a past-president of CFA Society Dallas/Fort Worth, and Sharon Criswell, CFA, CFA Societies Texas, applied for project funding to put on a conference that aligned their shared missions. These were clearly defined as:
- CFA Institute: To lead the investment profession globally by promoting the highest standards of ethics;
- CFA Society of Dallas/Fort Worth: To promote high standards of professional and ethical conduct among its members; and
- CFA Societies Texas: To communicate as a unified body in the areas of public awareness and advocacy.
The strength of their application, along with clear goals for measurement, led to successful funding and just six months later the event took place at the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas. The president and CEO of the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas, Robert Kaplan, was the keynote speaker and he shared his insights on the global, as well as Texas, economy and market risks he sees going forward.
Shirley Ogden, CFA, on the CFA Societies Texas Advocacy Committee, said, “Offering a high-quality ethics and regulatory focused program for CFA charterholders, compliance professionals, registered investment advisory firms and broker dealers across the state of Texas supported our shared objectives of re-establishing trust in our industry and promoting fair and transparent capital markets.”
The funding led to collaboration with the marketing team at CFA Institute, who helped to design promotional materials to publicise the event. It also allowed for almost 200 CFA charterholders, and other financial and compliance professionals, to attend the high-quality ethics and regulatory focused program at no charge. Lastly, it ensured that the event could be hosted at a prestigious venue.
Pat Swanson added: “For four years now, CFA Institute has provided both expertise and strategic funding support to leverage CFA Societies Texas efforts to inform legislative policy, enhance state-wide public trustee education, and elevate the dialogue with our regulators. Project funding certainly helped us to raise awareness of our Societies and mission locally.”
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