The financial industry is in the midst of a profound transformation, coming on the backs of technological innovation, regulatory shifts, and ambitious growth targets. One of the most important commitments financial professionals can make is to understand and to adhere to high ethical standards. CFA Society Toronto, as part of its ongoing goal to support such standards, held its fourth annual Ethics Challenge for university teams in January.

The Ethics Challenge aims to promote the highest standards of ethics, while supporting the fundamentals of CFA Institute’s Future of Finance initiative. It also builds on the education provided by the CFA Program Partners. Participants are exposed to realistic examples of ethical violations, including professionalism, integrity, duties to clients and employers, and conflicts of interest, and are required to present their analysis of a complex ethical case study. Teams are judged on their ability to identify violations to the code, recognize the role of compliance, and provide an appropriate course of action. They’re also judged on their poise, materials, and performance in the Q&A.

This year’s challenge opened with thoughtful comments by Dr. Kevin Veenstra, CFA, whose research has focused on the impact of social and cultural influences on decision-making and financial performance. One of his most memorable comments was on how a corporate CEO’s choice of language can prove to be a predictor of ethical adherence in the future. Christy DeCosimo—long-time CFA Society Toronto volunteer and member of Cidel Asset Management’s client relationship group— then welcomed the teams and explained the rules.

Each of the four participating Ontario teams— the Rotman School of Management, from the University of Toronto; the Schulich School of Business at York University; the Telfer School of Management at the University of Ottawa; and the Smith School of Management at Queen’s University—took to the podium, first to present their findings and then to answer questions from the panel of three judges. The case study itself touched on several products and areas of finance and covered ethical judgments on many of the seven standards in CFA Institute’s Code of Ethics and Standards of Professional Conduct.

Each team took very a different, non-formulaic approach to their analyses, and had only 20 minutes (including Q&A) to present to the judges. In the end, the team from the Smith School of Business at Queen’s won the competition. Team members Lekan Akindele, Adam Prokop, Carter Smith, and Wei Xue displayed a deep understanding of the ethical violations in the case study, provided a reasonable course of action, and displayed excellent partnership throughout the presentation.

The thorough understanding of the application of the Code of Ethics, the commitment to the challenge, and the excellent presentations delivered by all participants are a testament to the participants’ commitment to both high ethical standards and to continuing education.

The Canadian Ethics Challenge final, which will include teams from universities across Canada, will be hosted in Toronto on June 1, 2017. For more information, contact Jonathan Mai at 416-365-5755 x235 at CFA Society Toronto.