More Than a Client: The Ethics of Loans, Gifts, and Personal Ties

About the course

Long advisory relationships produce real affection, and with it come offers no one planned: a loan for a down payment, a place in a client’s will, a request to serve as trustee, an invitation to invest together. Each one is sincere. Each one also gives the adviser a second role in the client’s life, and a second role is a conflict of interest. This beginner-level course explains in plain language what the duty of loyalty requires when that happens, and assumes no prior training. It covers the rules on borrowing from and lending to clients, what the rules do and do not say about gifts, being named a client’s beneficiary, the custody consequences of serving as a client’s trustee or holding a power of attorney, business dealings with clients, and the extra care owed to older and vulnerable clients. Rules for dual registrants are included. The final module gives you five questions to ask about any request or offer and applies them to four case studies, with words you can use to decline without damaging the relationship. A glossary and a rule reference table are included.