At its May 2023 meeting, the CFA Institute Board of Governors approved the recommendations of the Standards of Practice Council to revise the CFA Institute Code of Ethics and Standards of Professional Conduct. 

The Board voted to amend the Code and Standards and implement these changes, effective 1 January 2024.

The three changes to the Code and Standards are:

1. Revising the current conflict of interest standard to add language that requires members and candidates to either avoid conflicts of interest or disclose those conflicts. Currently there is no mention of avoiding conflicts of interest in the standard.
2. Adding a new standard requiring members to achieve and maintain competence. This standard reinforces the principle on competence set forth in the Code of Ethics.
3. Adding a new standard requiring disclosures to clients relating to the nature of the services provided by members and candidates and the costs to the client of those services.

You can see a summary of these revisions on our enterprise site.

The Board’s action concludes a thorough and lengthy deliberative process that included:

• A review by outside consultants comparing the Code and Standards to the professional conduct requirements in the APAC, EMEA, and North American markets,
• A benchmarking study comparing the Code and Standards with the conduct requirements of over 20 global financial industry organizations,
• continuous consultation with internal stakeholders who use the Code and Standards, particularly the Disciplinary Review Committee and Professional Conduct team, and
• Two rounds of public comment from CFA Institute members, societies, and investment professionals.

All charterholders, CFA Institute members, and candidates in the CFA Program are required to abide by the Code and Standards. CFA Institute is committed to enforcing the Code and Standards and sanctioning those who fail to comply with their ethical responsibilities.

Guidance for the new standards will be incorporated into the 12th Edition of the Standards of Practice Handbook, which is expected to be published on 1 January 2024. You can register now for the 24 October webinar hosted by Jon Stokes, Director, Professional Standards, to explain the changes to the Standards. We will be communicating more about these changes to members in the coming weeks prior to the changes become effective on 1 January.

We thank everyone who has contributed to this project.