Standard VI: Conflicts of Interest
About this episode
Standard VI of the CFA Institute Code of Ethics and Standards of Professional Conduct, Conflicts of Interest, is about what happens when your own interests quietly pull against your client's. In a two host format, one host explains the material while the other plays a fictional exam candidate, and together they reason out loud through the three pieces the exam tests: disclose the conflict in plain language (VI-A), put client transactions ahead of your own (VI-B), and disclose any fee you receive for a referral before the client acts (VI-C). Using fully fictional scenarios, they work the traps the exam is built around, from the front-running trap to the family-account nuance to the undisclosed referral fee, so you learn to reason through a vignette instead of guessing at it.
In this episode
Standard VI, Conflicts of Interest, is about what happens when your own interests quietly pull against your client's, and this episode works through its three sub-standards with fully fictional scenarios.
Standard VI(A), Disclosure of Conflicts, covers disclosing in plain language anything that could interfere with your duties to a client or impair your independence. The hosts reason through when a conflict has to be disclosed, how plainly it has to be said, and who the disclosure goes to.
Standard VI(B), Priority of Transactions, addresses putting client and employer transactions ahead of your own. The episode works the front-running trap and the family-account nuance: which accounts count as personal, and why sequencing matters.
These are points about how the CFA Institute Standards analyze the scenarios for exam purposes, not legal or compliance advice. Actual disclosure and trading rules depend on applicable law and the specific facts.
Standard VI(C), Referral Fees, covers the fee you receive for sending a client somewhere else. The hosts reason through who the referral fee has to be disclosed to, and why the disclosure has to come before the client acts.
The episode points listeners to the free 90 question practice exam at tottenprep.com.
What this episode covers
- Standard VI(A) Disclosure of Conflicts: plain language, before the client acts.
- Standard VI(B) Priority of Transactions: client and employer trades ahead of your own.
- Standard VI(C) Referral Fees: disclosing the fee before the client acts.
- The front-running trap and the family-account nuance.
Frequently asked questions
What does CFA® Standard VI cover?
Standard VI of the CFA Institute Code of Ethics and Standards of Professional Conduct covers Conflicts of Interest: VI(A) Disclosure of Conflicts, VI(B) Priority of Transactions, and VI(C) Referral Fees.
What is front-running in the CFA® Standards?
Front-running is acting on your own account before a client or employer trade, so you benefit from the move your own recommendation causes. For exam purposes, client and employer transactions come ahead of personal trades, and the episode works through the family-account nuance with fictional scenarios. This is exam-prep framing, not legal or compliance advice.