Around 6,000 candidates from India, who are appearing for the Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) exams this year, will have to spend their own money to go abroad and appear for the exams since the US-based institute has decided not to hold the exams in India this year. The exam is scheduled for December 7 and only Level-I students will be appearing for it.
“After a careful evaluation, we have concluded that we will not open test centres in India for the December 2008 CFA exam even if permitted to do so by the Delhi High Court. We are communicating this decision now so you can finalise your travel plans,” it has stated.
The institute has acknowledged “...given the number of candidates from India, the administrative logistics and complexities of preparing and holding locations — along with the need to maintain the integrity of the examination process and the CFA program itself — we decided that making this final decision was the most prudent course.”
Some students are already preparing their itinerary. “I am traveling to Bangkok to appear for the examination and would be shelling out around Rs 40,000 on to and fro and accommodation,” says Sunil Nadar, who is working for an equity firm. Few other students are flying to Hong Kong, Dubai and Nepal to take the examinations.
However, there are other students who have decided to skip the examination. “In this bad market, I cannot take a chance to spend so much and appear for the examination. The job situation is also a concern,” says Navin Chandra, another CFA student and an equity analyst.
The CFA institute is embroiled in a legal battle with the technical education regulating body — All India Council for Technical Education. The CFA institute had filed a writ petition before the Delhi High Court in May 2007 — challenging the All India Council for Technical Education’s (AICTE’s) decision prohibiting the CFA programme in India. The case will now come up for hearing in December 2008.
On May 31, 2007, the Delhi High Court stayed AICTE’s order banning CFA’s Indian operations, but only with respect to the stay on examination. It ruled that all the other issues of application and registration would be heard later.
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The institute had, on May 24, moved the Delhi High Court seeking a stay on AICTE’s notice to wind up its operations in India. The AICTE had issued a notice to the CFA institute on a case filed by the Hyderabad-based Institute of Chartered Financial Analysts of India.
Correction
This story has been corrected for a clarification. The last line of the story had wrongly mentioned "Institute of Chartered Accountants", which has been changed to "Hyderabad-based Institute of Chartered Financial Analysts of India (ICFAI)". The error is regretted.