On Tuesday, 29 May, Margaret Franklin CFA, former chair, CFA Institute Board of Governors and Fred Pinto CFA, President, CFA Society Toronto joined Gary Knight CFA, Vice President, Trading, Toronto Stock Exchange and invited guests from CFA Institute and the Toronto financial community to open the market at the TMX as part of the CFA Program’s 50th anniversary global celebration.

On the same day, CFA Institute celebrated the anniversary by closing the New York Stock Exchange and hosting ceremonies in 23 other financial centres around the world, including London, Paris, Tokyo, Hong Kong, Singapore, Mexico, and New Zealand. The global market ceremonies represented the greatest number of stock exchanges worldwide opened or closed by one organization on a single day.

The ceremonies set the stage for the following weekend, when more than 149,000 registered candidates from 168 countries took Level I, II, and III CFA exams.

Together, these events have ushered in a year of celebration for CFA Institute. The first CFA examination was offered in June 1963, and it resulted in 268 investment professionals being awarded the CFA charter. Nearly 50 years later, there are more than 100,000 charter holders in 139 countries and territories representing the highest professional standards and competencies in the global investment community.

Joining CFA Institute to ring the bells in their respective markets were the two largest societies, each of which has just celebrated their 75th anniversaries, the New York Society of Security Analysts (NYSSA) and CFA Society Toronto.

“There is no better way to celebrate the success and international impact of the CFA Program than with a global event of this magnitude,” said John D. Rogers, CFA, president and CEO of CFA Institute. “We are proud to be part of this celebration and, since its inception, to have been a part of the history of CFA Institute,” said Peter Jarvis CFA, executive director of CFA Society Toronto.