Almost two-thirds of respondents also stated that the integrity of capital markets had been an issue in 2012, likely as a result of the Libor rigging scandal and various cases of insider trading.
The professional body conducted the survey to get feedback on the areas of the Code of Ethics and Standards of Professional Conduct that they felt had been a challenge for the profession as a whole and for individuals in 2012.
Industry Disgrace
Last June Barclays was fined a record £290m for its part in the Libor scandal. UBS, Lloyds, and RBS were also caught up in the debacle.
The FSA, meanwhile, launched a crackdown on insider trading and as of January this year had secured 22 convictions. In March Paul Milsom, a former L&G equities investor, and Richard Joseph, a futures trader with JP Morgan Cazenove, were imprisoned in separate cases for insider trading.
Personal problems
Speaking on a personal level, standards were not felt to have been as challenging, with a more modest third of respondents claiming that investment analysis duties and had been testing in 2012.
Just under one-third said that duties to clients had been a personal challenge during the year.
Will Goodhart, CEO of CFA UK, said: “It will be interesting to see how members’ absolute levels of concern change over time and to see whether the areas of concern also vary. We hope that the publication’s report will remind investment professionals of their obligations to clients, provide them with useful guidance on how to observe those obligations and inform the public that investment is a profession and that they should expect those working in investment to demonstrate the same professional characteristics as those working in accounting, law or medicine.”
