4.10. Practical Application

The past six months have been exciting for Amy Adams. After getting hired at one of the biggest firms on Wall Street, she buckled down and studied hard for all her securities licensing exams. Needless to say, after she passed, she was more than excited to email all her family members and friends and let them know that her state’s securities administrator had certified and approved her to help them with their investment needs.

Her excitement was dampened a little when she received a frantic call from her firm’s compliance department informing her that she needed to be extremely careful about misrepresenting her qualifications, the licensing process, and her firm. As part of the conversation, the compliance department informed Amy Adams that she would need to take a refresher course on “communicating with the public.”

As part of the class, Amy met other professionals who had made similar mistakes. Brad was required to attend after using an overly simplified advisory contract that did not include the fee owed by the client and other important information. Sarah was asked to attend after misrepresenting the safety of some corporate bonds when she