Make The Right Choices For Your Clients
The Conduct and Practices Handbook Course (CPH)® is your guide to understanding the rules, regulations, practices and ethics that will guide your career as an investment advisor or representative.
- Become a Licensed Investment Advisor or Investment Representative
- Assist in meeting IIROC's proficiency requirements for licensing.
- Improve Your Employment Prospects
- Improve your employability by gaining the education employers and regulators require.
Learn how you can extend your CPH validity period with IIROC's Voluntary Participation Program.
- Learn more if you're buying for a team
Who Should Enrol
Enrol in the CPH® if you:
- Are subject to meeting IIROC registration proficiency requirements that include this course
- Are a financial services professional
- Want a broader understanding of regulations governing securities professionals
Course leads to the following credential:
Learn the Business Of Ethics
The CPH® covers the rules, policies, and by-laws of the provincial securities commissions and the self-regulatory organizations. Learn about standards of conduct and practices when dealing with client accounts and special transactions and products. Case studies provide practical knowledge of:
- The standards of conduct including the "Know Your Client" rule
- Specific self-regulatory organizations' rules governing conduct
- Provincial securities legislation
- Guidelines for appropriate dealings with clients
- Ethics theory and application in a securities firm environment
- The Canadian regulatory environment
How you'll learn
CSI offers a variety of options to help you learn at your own pace. Study online, by textbook or using a combination of both.
Learning Experience
CSI's online learning system helps you meet your study goals. You'll benefit from:
- Learning objectives and goals that keep you focused
- Interactive tools to help you evaluate and apply course material
- Post-chapter tests to assess your progress
- Course updates to ensure you’re learning the most current and up-to-date practical material in your studies
- An online study planner that shows you how to complete your studies in a 3-, 6-, 9-, and 12-month window
- Online discussion forums and assistance from CSI's academic support specialists
What you'll learn
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Topics covered in this chapter are:
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Know Your Client and Suitability
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Know Your product
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Fiduciary Duty
Topics covered in this chapter are:
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General Principles of Securities Regulation
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Key Players Involved in Securities Regulation
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Self-Regulatory Organizations (SROS)
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The Exchanges and Marketplaces in Canada
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Designated Stock Exchanges
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Dealing with Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing in the Securities Industry
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Investor Protection Funds
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Protection for Depositors
Topics covered in this chapter are:
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Types of Registration
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Categories of Registration
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Exemptions from Registration
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Registration of an Individual as a Registered Representative
Topics covered in this chapter are:
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Opening Accounts
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Client Records
Topics covered in this chapter are:
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Know Your Product (KYP) and Suitability
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Rules of Conduct
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Principal vs. Agency Transactions
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The Gatekeeper Role
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Deliveries and Payments
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Account Activity and Money Laundering Red Flags
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Dealing with Confi dential Information
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Commissions and Other Compensation
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Personal Financial Dealings and Outside Business Activities
Topics covered in this chapter are:
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How Securities are Traded
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Placing an Order
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Types of Orders
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Fixed Income Compliance and Supervision
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Settlement of Trades
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Errors
Topics covered in this chapter are:
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Accounting for Client Transactions
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Cash Accounts
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Margin Accounts
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Free Credit Balances
Topics covered in this chapter are:
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General Regulations and Guidelines for Sales Literature
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Mutual Fund Sales Communications
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Electronic Communications
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General Disclosure Requirements
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Communicating Trading Information to Customers
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Enhanced Performance Reporting
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Handling Client Complaints
Topics covered in this chapter are:
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Bringing Securities to the Market
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Maintaining Publicly Trading Status
Topics covered in this chapter are:
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Formal Take-over Bids
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Insider Bids
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Issuer Bids
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Statutory Rights of Shareholders
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Normal Course Issuer Bids
Topics covered in this chapter are:
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The Relationships Between Values, Ethics and the Law
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Value Awareness
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Understanding Values in a Larger Context
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Basic Ethics Tenets
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Good Motives and Rationale are Poor Substitutes for Bad Behaviour
Topics covered in this chapter are:
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What Values and Ethical Practice Do in an Organization
Topics covered in this chapter are:
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Introduction
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Responsibilities to Self
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Responsibilities to Co-workers
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Responsibilities to the Profession
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Responsibilities to the Employer
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Responsibilities to Clients
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Responsibilities to Shareholders/Partners/Board of Directors
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Responsibilities to Competitors and the Securities Industry
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Responsibilities to Society and the General Public
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The Ethical Obligation to Blow the Whistle
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Integration of Individual Responsibilities to Stakeholders
Topics covered in this chapter are:
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Introduction
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Internal Controls and Compliance Programs
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Leadership from the Top
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Communicating Standards and Systems for Enforcing Them
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Eliminating Gaps between Stated and Implied Corporate Messages
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Effective Supervision and Advice
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Implementing Strategies for Good Governance
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Guidance in Resolving Trade-Offs
Topics covered in this chapter are:
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Confl ict in Values
| Approximate Hours of Study** | |
|---|---|
| Hours of Study | 40 - 55 hours |
** In order to provide some guidance to course participants as to the length of time it will take to be sufficiently prepared to write the final examination, CSI has prepared this estimate of the number of hours an average participant could possibly expect to spend studying for a course. Please note that these are only recommended hours of study developed based on research and our course content, however, this does not mean that some students with exceptional backgrounds would not take less time than recommended or that students with no background at all in finance or economics would not take longer than the maximum.
| EXAM WEIGHTINGS (weightings are approximate) |
|
|---|---|
| Regulation of the Securities Industry | 13% |
| Registration of Securities Industry Participants | 12% |
| Account Opening Procedures | 8% |
| Sales and Trading Conduct | 8% |
| Placing Orders for Securities | 6% |
| Cash and Margin Account Rules | 7% |
| Communications with Clients | 7% |
| Bringing New Issues to Market and Take-over Bids, Insider Bids and Issuer Bids | 13% |
| Canadian Securities Industry Registrant Code of Ethics and Standards of Conduct | 10% |
| Ethics, Individual and Corporate Responsibility, and Ethical Decision Making | 16% |
| ENROLMENT PERIOD | |
|---|---|
| Enrolment Period | 1 year† |
| COURSE COMPLETION NOTICE AND WALL CERTIFICATE | |
|---|---|
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On successful completion of this course you will be able to download a Notice of Course Completion available through your student profile. This will remain on your profile as formal indication of course completion. CSI will mail you a wall certificate within 4 - 6 weeks of course completion. Frames to display your certificate are available. Please ensure that your First and Last Name on your profile match your First and Last Name on your Government Issued Photo identification - this will ensure you receive an accurate certificate. CSI will be pleased to issue an Honors Certificate to all students who obtain a final course mark of 85% or higher. |
*There is no charge for your first attempt at a paper-based exam within Canada, as long as it's at a regular exam center and you provide a minimum of 14 days notice before the date that you want to write the exam. If you would like to write a computer-based exam, an additional fee will be required.
Each subsequent paper-based exam attempt at a regular exam centre within Canada will also require an additional fee. This fee is in addition to any special, computer-based or international fees that may apply. You must provide a minimum of 14 days notice within Canada at a regular exam centre and 4 weeks notice for all other centres. Please note that the date of the exam is not part of any notice period.
†Please note: Access to your online materials will close 2 weeks after successful course completion or course expiry (whichever comes first). This course can be extended by 1 year provided you have not exceeded the attempts allowed for each exam. Extension fees apply. Your enrolment period can only be extended one time.
Important: During a student's enrolment period, CSI may update this course. In that case, details about the update and how it may affect students will be posted online via My CSI. Students are held responsible for and are examinable on the content in the course textbook(s) provided at the time of enrollment unless stated otherwise in My CSI. Students are encouraged to check My CSI regularly throughout their enrolment period.
Continuing Education (CE) Credits
Click the links below or the buttons at the top of the page on the right side to access CE accreditation information. To search for specific course information, press Ctrl + F and then enter the course name to search the document for the information you are interested in.
National/Provincial (Excluding Quebec)
Download CE Chart (PDF, 163 kb)
Quebec (IQPF/CSF)
Download IQPF/CSF Chart (PDF, 182 kb)
Please note: While CSI makes every effort to ensure that the information is up-to-date, we are unfortunately unable to fully guarantee its accuracy. The information listed in the charts above may be subject to change.
More detailed information on CE Credits are available.