BFIN 360 FP Canada Assignment Winter 2022

THIS ASSIGNMENT IS TO BE DONE IN TEAMS OF 3 or 4 STUDENTS.

When you have formed your team, one representative of your team must send an email to me with the full names (first and last) of the members of your team.

This assignment involves the reading of The Standards of Professional Responsibility document, as published by the FP Canada Standards Council, the organization that oversees the licensing of financial planners in Canada. The link at the bottom of this page will take you to that document.

PART A. (65 marks)

For each of the scenario questions, analyze the situation and:

- identify the principle that has been violated. - fully explain how it has been violated.

You may only use the principles of "duty of loyalty to the client" and" professionalism" one time each. Marks for each question in Part A are allocated as follows: - 2 marks: for each correct ethics principle you have correctly identified.

- 3 marks:for each proper explanation of the principle that the person has violated.

If you do not identify the correct principle, the second part of the answer will be automatically earn a grade of "zero".

The information that you need to complete Part A should be accessible by clicking on the link, below:

https://fpcanada.ca/docs/default-source/standards/standards-of-professional-responsibility.pdf

If the link does not open, refer to the document in the course D2L website, under "Content" with the heading: FP Canada Assignment, and open or save "Standards of Professional Responsibility".

The FP Canada Standards document contains all the information you need to do the majority of the assignment.

Page 5 lists, and describes, the Principles of the Code of Ethics (there are 8 of them).

Pages 6 to 23 discuss the application of the Rules of Conduct.

Questions

1. Frieda had booked an appointment with her financial adviser, Sami, for a meeting at 11:30 a.m. on Tuesday, February 8. At 10:00 a.m. on the morning of the meeting day, Sami received a call from his friend, Tom, asking Sami to go for lunch with Tom at noon that day. Sami said "no problem", called his client, Frieda, told her that something had come up and could she rebook her meeting for Tuesday, February 15. Frieda was not happy with this, but begrudgingly said "yes".

The principle that Sami violated: Professionalism

Explanation:

1. Peter comes to the office of his financial adviser, Elizabeth, to talk to Elizabeth about purchasing an ETF that covers the SP500 index. Elizabeth shifts the topic of conversation to discuss another investment, because the fees associated with the ETF are low and Elizabeth can earn a much larger commission by selling a different type of investment to Peter.

The principle that Elizabeth violated: Duty of Loyalty to the Client

Explanation:

1. FP professionals are required to complete 30 Continuing Education (CE) credit hours each two-year reporting period. John, who has been very busy lately and has now surpassed the two year reporting period, has only done 12 hours over the past two years.

The principle that John violated: competence

Explanation:

1. It's Saturday at 2:00 p.m. and you are meeting with a few of your colleagues at the local pub. While you are shooting a few games of pool, one of your colleagues, Chris, discusses with you the financial situation of David, one of his clients. After hearing the details from Chris, you mention to him that you would have never assumed, by the type of car that you have seen David drive, that David's portfolio is that big.

The principle that Chris violated: confidentiality

Explanation:

1. You are the financial adviser for Sasha, and she comes in to see you on Friday, January 8. At this time you have a productive discussion and set another meeting for Friday, January 15.

On January 15, you sit down with Sasha and begin the process of developing a financial plan. You tell Sasha you will have the completed plan ready for review by February 28. On February 27, Sasha calls you to see how you are progressing, and you state that you are behind, but promise that the plan will be done by March 3.

On March 2, Sasha calls again, and you delay her, again, by telling her that you are not ready to present the plan to her, yet.

The principle that you have violated: diligence

Explanation:

1. Gordon comes in to your investment firm, to meet with his adviser, Rahim, to open up a mutual fund account. The entire process went well, there was great dialogue, a very good needs-assessment discussion, and the presentation of a mutual fund product that has many benefits that Gordon was happy to hear about.

Unfortunately, Rahim neglected to tell Gordon how Rahim would get paid.

The principle that Rahim violated: fairness

Explanation:

1. During a department reception, to celebrate the retirement of the branch manager, your colleagues John and Janine had a conversation about a new person who had just been hired. John stated to Janine that the new hire "doesn't seem too sharp" and that John "does not want the new hire to be near any of my clients". Janine responded by saying "there must be something wrong with the company's HR department if that is the best they can hire".

The principle that John and Janine violated:

Explanation:

1. Oscar has just announced that he has been hired by one of your firm's biggest competitors, and will be moving to Vancouver in two weeks, to assume the position of chief financial adviser for his new firm.

Because he will be leaving in two weeks, Oscar feels "rushed" with all the files he must wrap up, and fails to tell many of his existing clients that their financial arrangements with your firm will be transferred to one of his associates when he leaves.

The principle that Oscar violated:

Explanation:

9. Jurgen is an FP practitioner in a large Calgary financial institution. His expertise is in developing financial plans for high net worth clients. Yesterday, one his clients was discussing the need obtain a whole life insurance policy. Jurgen told the client that he could recommend an insurance broker, as Jurgen did not have a license to sell life insurance policies. What Jurgen failed to disclose to his client was that the individual Jurgen was recommending is his cousin.

The principle that Jurgen violated: fairness

Explanation:

10. Thomas is setting up a town hall meeting, where he is going to be giving a seminar on the merits of investing into RRSP's as a great tax deferral plan. He states that he has extensive experience and has been opening many RRSP accounts for large numbers of clients for over the past 12 years.

In fact, Thomas has only been opening RRSP accounts for the last three years.

The principle that Thomas violated: Integrity

Explanation:

11. Jonah is an FP practitioner and has been in the field for four years. In a meeting with one of his clients, Henri, Jonah recommends an equity, based on the fact he heard it on Karl Kramer's "Money-Madness" show on TV, the evening before. Jonah thought if it is good enough for a "pro" like Kramer it would be good for Henri.

Jonah fails to research the product himself and is basing his recommendation to his client, Henri, solely on what Karl Kramer said on his TV show.

The principle that Jonah violated:

Explanation:

12. Amir has been working as a life insurance agent for the past six years. Recently, one of his client's, Sarah, came in for an appointment with Amir to increase the amount of coverage in the life insurance policy she bought from Amir a couple of years ago. During the conversation, the subject switched to mortgages, an area in which Amir does not have experience.

Instead of recommending a colleague, who is an expert in this area, to speak to Sarah, Amir gave advice to Sarah, on a wide range of mortgage products, which is an area in which he is not qualified.

The principle that Amir violated: Professionalism

Explanation:

13. Bonnie and Claude have a close working relationship, with Bonnie having expertise in tax advice and Claude having his expertise in equity analysis at the bank where they have both worked for the last 10 years. It is tax time and Bonnie delegates some of her tax work to Claude, who is willing to help her out but does not have any expertise on the subject of complex tax preparation and analysis.

The principle that has been violated: competence

Explanation:

In answering questions 1 to 13 in Part A, you can enter your answers in the spaces provided under each question section. As you enter your information, the Word document will continue to expand. Pages will run over the ones they started on, but that is of no consequence, as long as you are answering the question within its numbered area.

PART B 25 Marks

The team will write a 300-word essay on:

"The importance of fiduciary responsibility in the financial services (FS) sector".

In Part B, you will need to seek information from the internet, to acquire most of the information to address the topic. You must use at least three (3) different sources and, for this essay, you can use Wikipedia, but it cannot be your only source. You must use at least two (2) other sources.

Your essay will include:

- defining what a fiduciary responsibility is - examples of fiduciary relationships - explanations of duties, obligations and accountabilities of a fiduciary - how breaches can occur and how they are resolved (or avoided) - the significance of fiduciary responsibility upon the financial services sector in Canada.

You will need to provide, at the end of your essay, a list of the actual, functional, URL's that you visited to obtain your information (do a "copy and paste" of the actual URL's, so they can be visited by the person grading the essay).

This is NOT a functional URL: www.sait.ca

This oneIS a functional URL: www.sait.ca even though it has the same information.

The difference? After you did a "copy and paste" of the URL information, in the second example, you hit the "enter" key, which then underlined your information, and making it into a functional link.

The first example, without the underline, cannot take the reader to the SAIT website, no matter how many times it is clicked-on.

The second example, because it has the "underline" from hitting the "enter" key after doing the cut and paste, will take you to SAIT's website.

Part BAn answer that will earn full marks will likely run about 2 pages, single-line spacing, 11 or 12-point font.

The marks earned will reflect the completeness, detail, and clarity used, based upon fiduciary responsibility guidelines.

Module 1 is helpful, for Part B with its introduction to the concept of Fiduciary Responsibility, but you will need to explore beyond that module to obtain more detailed information to answer the essay inclusions, as listed above.

PART C 10 marks

Each team memberis to, separately, write their own 150-word summary on the subject of:

"How and why you see how proper ethical behaviour will guide you in your career in the financial services (FS) sector".

For Part C, your main source of information will be Module 1.

This question is worth 10 marks. An answer that will earn full marks will likely run about one page.

The mark earned will reflect full, clear, and accurate information on the subject of ethical behaviour.

IMPORTANT NOTE FOR ALL PARTS OF THE ASSIGNMENT

Answers must bein your own words.

You cannot simply do a "cut and paste".

Answers that are of the "cut and paste"variety willearn "ZERO" marksfor the entire assignmentbecause that is aviolationof SAIT's Academic Misconduct policy. It will also earn you a meeting with your Chair and the Associate Dean.It will not be a pleasant meeting, for you, I might add.

Value: The assignment is out of 100 marks and is worth 20 % of your course grade.

Format: This assignment is to be prepared as a Word document, using 11 or 12-point font.

You can prepare your response in a document that is separate from this hand-out, or you can enter your answers to the questions into this hand-out.

If you choose to enter your answers into this handout, be sure to leave an adequate amount of space between answers to each of the questions.

Answers that are hard for the grader (me) to read will receive a grade of "zero".

The grader will not contact you to "clarify" or ask you to "better-explain" an answer or a statement, so please proof-read your assignment before you submit it.

Earning a Mark: You will earn a mark by providing a relevant piece of information, a statement of provable fact, or an opinion/conclusion that is based upon information that is contained in the FP Canada Standards of Professional Responsibility that you access by the link provided on page 1.

Due Date Monday, January 31, uploaded into the class D2L site, no later than 10 p.m.

Assignments uploaded later than 10:00 p.m. will lose 10% of the grade earned for each hour that it is late.

To upload, visit the course D2L website, go to "Assessments", click on "Assignments", and then click on "FP Canada Assignment" and upload your file.

Information Sources Since you are creating your response to Part A from the information contained in the link within this assignment, no information sources need to be referenced in your answer.

Part B will require sources to be identified. If your sources are not identified, that question will earn a grade of "zero".

Part Cis answered from the primary source of Module 1, so no identification is required unless you obtain information from other sources. They will need to be identified, to avoid grading penalties.

Questions The sooner they are asked, the sooner they can be answered.