What to know
Identify the rule, formula, or decision criterion before reading the answer choices. CFA Level I distractors often use the right vocabulary with the wrong condition.
Ethical and Professional Standards
Standard II(B) Market Manipulation practice questions
Standard II(B) Market Manipulation is part of CFA Level I Ethical and Professional Standards. Ethics questions test judgment under the Code and Standards, especially duties to clients, employers, markets, and the CFA Program. Use this page to review the controlling ideas, then work through 5 questions with answer explanations and common traps.
Review the worked explanations before moving into adaptive practice. The app version can mix this topic with due reviews and weak related concepts.
Practice this topicHow to practice
Work each item under time pressure, then compare your reasoning with the step-by-step explanation and key takeaway.
Review signal
Missed questions should become scheduled reviews when the error comes from a concept gap, formula setup, or answer-choice trap.
Ethical and Professional Standards
Standard II(B) Market Manipulation
Spreading a false rumor to increase trading volume most directly violates:
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Standard II(B) Market Manipulation
A trader enters orders near the close solely to create an artificial closing price that benefits a derivative position. The most direct violation is:
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Standard II(B) Market Manipulation
A trader enters small buy orders near the close through related accounts to create a rising-price signal in a thin stock, cancels several unexecuted orders, and then highlights the closing move in client calls. The conduct most likely violates:
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Standard II(B) Market Manipulation
A fund manager buys a large block of a thinly traded stock shortly before month-end solely to move the closing price above a level that increases the fund's reported performance fee. The fund plans to sell the position the next morning. The conduct is best described as:
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Standard II(B) Market Manipulation
An analyst anonymously posts on an investor forum that a target company will receive a takeover bid within days. The analyst has no basis for the claim but owns call options and expects the rumor to increase trading volume. The most accurate conclusion is that the analyst:
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