CFA Charter Pending - Improper use of Designation?

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Monito

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I’ve seen a bunch of guys on LinkedIn, adding CFA Charter Pending after their name. Just to be clear I have no problem with them putting “I passed all three levels of the CFA Program and will be eligible for the CFA charter upon completion of the required work experience” in the Education/Experience or whatever section.
But doing this adds it after their name in the search results. Anyone know if this is allowed? It seems to be to be wrong similar to if they put “CFA Charter Pending” after thier name on a business card.
 
Not allowed. Here’s the email I got from CFAI on this - it’s still a debated point, but it’s not debatable (guy who used to say you could use it):
Thank you for contacting us. The use of ‘charter pending’ is not acceptable. We recommend ‘I passed all three levels of the CFA program and will be eligible for award of the CFA charter upon completion of the required work experience.’ Note that since your charter has been awarded, you may use the CFA designation.
 
I guess a lot of people assumed it was ok, since this is the status that CFAI puts for you on their website.
 
Yeah, I think CFAI needs to be clearer on this. They have a good page explaining how to display your status on LinkedIn, but it only covers Charterholders and Candidates not those who have pass 1, 2 or all 3 exams but are not registered for the next or awaiting work experience.
I ran a search using “Charter Pending” (with the quotations to ensure I got two words together) and got 475 results. I picked a few at random and they all had variations on CFA Charter Pending, some had mentioned requiring work experience most just had it in their education section.
But clearly CFAI needs to clarify this and possibly take action against some of those putting it after their name, like a partial designation. It’s not fair for those who follow the rules and wait until they can use the designation.
 
I guess the ethics section didn’t sink in to the “charter pending” folks
 
In my eyes, when CFAI puts it on their website, they are saying that it is acceptable terminology. If they don’t think it’s correct, then they shouldn’t confuse people.
I think the whole don’t use CFA as a noun is stupid, anyway. Everyone calls me a CFA, and I never correct them - unless they’re also a CFA, and I correct them as a joke.
 
guest wrote:I guess the ethics section didn’t sink in to the “charter pending” folks
Click to expand...
To be fair, the ethics section describes what not to do, but it doesn’t say what to do in this circumstance. It does say what to do about CFA Level X Candidate; and it does say what to do about CFA.
CFA Charter Pending is a bit like Patent Pending. It’s a descriptive term (descriptions are allowed) without much legal meaning. And it doesn’t say that the CFA Charter will be awarded by a specific time (which is verboten). And it is commonly used, so it’s bit ambiguous.
The CFA Institute has sent a few emails to those who have asked that says that they don’t approve of that wording. But they don’t make it very clear in the ethics material that this is not allowed (they are explicit about not using CFA until work experience is approved, not to say “CFA expected by date Y” or not to say “CFA Level X candidate” after you’ve passed one level and before you’ve paid up for the next exam). Charter Pending is arguably a description, and descriptions are allowed. Heck, it’s a description in their system too.
So yes, they are technically breaking the rules - which we only discover after writing to CFAI to ask - but it’s not an unambiguous area of the ethics curriculum. It’s not a brazen infraction, the way saying you’re a Level 2 candidate when you failed Level 1 is.
CFAI needs to put the appropriate language for this circumstance into the standards of practice and ethics curriculum. It should be a question on the L3 exam at least. It’s a huge gaping hole that applies to a lot of people and that can be fixed by adding a single sentence.
Do they feel that this status is simply not important to cover just because they don’t make any money between passing Level 3 and obtaining the charter? I’ll bet if they said you could say “Charter Pending” as long as you were a paying member of CFAI, that might entice them to add a sentence to the standards of practice.
 
I totally agree this does need to be clarified by CFAI. They have a great page explaining how to put your CFA status on your LinkedIn profile (http://www.cfainstitute.org/utility/social/pages/linkedin_status.aspx?in...) but it makes no mention of those who have passed all three exams or even just one or two.
Generally I don’t have a real problem with people putting CFA Chater Pending on their CV. But the guys who stick it in thier name fields on LinkedIn, that I’m a bit less happy about. It’s one thing doing it once you have your charter, everyone would accept that styling yourself Joe Bloggs, CFA is acceptable if you have the charter, but I think Joe Bloggs, CFA Charter Pending is not. Think about what you would think if you saw a business card like that.
I’m in the same boat at the moment I’m awaiting my Charter for the FRM and all I have on my CV is FRM Program - Passed FRM Exam Part I & Part II. GARP have been really clear about this and rightly so. Whilst I do have the necessary experience, it needs to be verified and there are those out there who do not and may be waiting some time. I’ve seen guys who’ve gone the Joe Bloggs, Charter Pending route who’ll have the charter after me (assuming I pass L2 this Summer and L3 next Summer).
 
If CFAI says you can’t, then the argument ends there.
But honestly, if the CFAI website says “charter pending”
Then stating on your resume “The CFAI website lists my status as charter pending” is just a fact, and I am totally confused why it’s wrong to do that.
 
Totally agree they need to be clear. Again from my experience i can’t use the FRM designation until I recieve the email titled “Thank you for submitting your CV you can now use the FRM designation‏” however when I go to GARP and check my profile it’s listed as FRM Holder. No mention of pending, but still I’m waiting for the email.
I totally get how the guys seeing Charter Pending put it on their CV, but I just don’t think you should be adding it to your name in LinkedIn, on business cards or whatever, especially if you’re years away from the experience qualification. If I see Charter Pending, generally I’ll think the guy’s done his 4 years and he’s waiting for CFAI to say okay use it, not that he’s working in Back Office and one day he’ll have got 4 years experience.
 
I just modified my LinkedIn profile as follows: “2013 CFA Level III Candidate (passed test, eligible for charter)”
I am already a CFA Institute member with approved work experience… I took the parts about passing the test and being eligible for the charter directly from my congratulatory CFA e-mail. Surely, that is ok..???
 
why even bother saying: CFA L3 candidate
go straight to: Passed CFA Level 3 Exam
 
Great job in passing HKG, I also passed Level III this year. I was of the understanding that if you passed Level III and were a regular member, that you were allowed to use the CFA designation immediately.
Can anyone clarify?
 
I don’t think so. I had hoped so as I am a regular member, but if you read the bylaws, sorry I did Law at Uni, you see it doesn’t work like that.
I’ve pasted the appropriate section below, but in short you need to wait until the CFAI say your good to go and from what I understand for those who are already memebers when they pass L3 this will happen somewhere around early September, in the mean time you can use the link below where CFAI are quite clear about what you can put on LinkedIn. Also there’s a link to the entire bylaws if that’s your thing
http://www.cfainstitute.org/community/social/Pages/profile.aspx
3.4 Charterholder Members.
(a) Each applicant seeking to become a Charterholder Member of CFA Institute shall:
(i) be an individual who has satisfied (1) the requirements to become a Regular Member and (2) the requirements of the CFA Program as established by CFA Institute and achieved the minimum passing score; and
(ii) complete and submit any additional application procedures or requirements established by CFA Institute.
(b) Upon satisfaction of the requirements in Section 3.4(a) and acceptance by CFA Institute, an applicant shall become a Charterholder Member and be granted the right to use the Chartered Financial Analyst® (CFA®) designation.
 
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