FAE · ASIC Financial Adviser Exam

Professional commitment and ethical frameworks

Standards 10-12 (knowledge and skills, cooperation with ASIC and monitoring bodies, upholding the profession) and the ethical decision-making frameworks on ASIC's reading list.

Applied ethical and professional reasoning and communication1 min read3 sections

Checked against: Financial Planners and Advisers Code of Ethics 2019 (F2019L00117) cl 5 introduction, Standards 10-12; Markkula Center for Applied Ethics, A Framework for Ethical Decision Making; Corporations (Work and Training Professional Year Standard) Determination 2018 s12; ASIC Financial adviser exam: Exam preparation guidance v6.0 (Sept 2026) and its reading list.. Independent prep, not endorsed by ASIC.

Must-know for the exam

Standard 10: develop, maintain and apply a high level of relevant knowledge and skills; minimum CPD hours alone may not be enough.
Standard 11: cooperate with ASIC and monitoring bodies in any investigation of a breach or potential breach of the Code.
Standard 12: individually and with peers, uphold the profession's ethical standards and hold each other accountable for protecting the public interest.
Standard 12 applies to all relevant providers, not only association members.
The Code contrasts the market ethos (pursuing self-interest by satisfying others' wants) with the professional ethos (subordinating self-interest to serve others).
Professions receive privileges in return for renouncing the pursuit of self-interest.
Markkula lenses: rights, justice, utilitarian, common good, virtue, care.
In professional year quarters 3 and 4 the candidate must identify and resolve ethical dilemmas (PY Determination s12(3)(c)).

On this page · 3 sections

Traps that cost marks

Knowing the clients well is not the same as knowing the subject matter.
Protecting the practice's reputation is not a ground for limiting cooperation.
Accountability runs through proper channels, not public shaming.
Recognising the lens being used is different from endorsing the conclusion.
'What they are due' is the signature phrase of the justice lens.
Evaluating options comes only after the facts are established.
A family trust holds investments, but who controls it is a legal question.
A licensed issuer and a glossy brochure are where due diligence starts, not where it ends.

Ethical lenses

Lens	Question it asks
Rights	Which option best respects the rights of all who have a stake?
Justice	Which option treats people equally or proportionately?
Utilitarian	Which option produces the most good and does the least harm?
Common good	Which option best serves the community as a whole?
Virtue	Which option leads me to act as the sort of person I want to be?
Care	Which option best attends to relationships and the concerns of those affected?

Common traps

Trap: Do not swap the utilitarian and rights lenses.

Trap: Standard 11 names monitoring bodies as well as ASIC.

Trap: Standard 12 is about accountability to the public interest, not loyalty to colleagues.

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Exam-style questions

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