CFA exam administrator to pay fine over hiring practices

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – A non-profit that administers exams for the chartered financial analyst certification will stop paying exam graders after a federal investigation into its hiring practices.

The Daily Progress reports the CFA Institute agreed to pay a $321,000 without admitting wrongdoing as part of the settlement agreement with the U.S. Department of Justice released Monday. The investigation found the non-profit had violated the Immigration and Nationality Act when it hired temporary exam graders from outside the country.

The department found that CFA set aside annual temporary positions for members with high-skilled temporary visas. CEO Paul Smith says the company would hire 150 foreigners each year so the grading pool would include people for whom English was a second language. Most of those who take the English-only exam are not in the U.S.

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Information from: The Daily Progress, http://www.dailyprogress.com