Ethics Jurisdiction question

I had a practice question the other day that went something along the lines of this: Joe Shmoe is an advisor who works for a company based in NYC but lives in Romania. In Romania, they allow trading on insider info. He trades on insider info for his clients. Which of the following should he adhere to? a) stricter of NY and Romania b)stricter of CFAI and Romania c)stricter of NY, Romania or CFAI Now I know the answer would be C if in the question Joe had been listed as a CFA charterholder. However, the question did not mention that he was a charterholder, nor did it say “according to SOPH, which should he adhere to?” Any suggestions as to what the answer may be? I didn’t complete that practice test (and it was an online test through AnalystNotes) so I don’t know what the answer was.

most questions assume charterholder / candidate, even if not stated. i would go with b… stricter of cfai and romania.

You should follow the most strict law that governs your professional conduct. Obviously, insider trading is violating many laws, such as federal securities law and the CFAI standards, dealing with material non-public information. Since the question doesn’t say explicitly tell you thay NY is more stricter than the standards, then by default you adhere to the CFAI standards which is the body that governs your conduct.