ACI Diploma study plan

ACI Diploma · Give each week a clear focus.

8 weeks · About 7 hours per week

Week 1

Ethical Conduct & Financial Markets Products and Instruments

Map the ACI Code of Conduct structure (ethics, conduct, market practice) and list each core principle with a one-line operational meaning
Define the main money-market instruments (deposits, repos, CDs, commercial paper) and state who borrows, who lends and why in each
Distinguish ethical obligations from legal obligations using three short worked scenarios you write yourself
Build a personal glossary of 40 market and ethics terms with definitions in your own words

A 2-page personal glossary plus a one-page ethics-vs-legality comparison table covering at least 10 terms and 3 scenarios

Week 2

Explain front-running, insider dealing, market manipulation and mis-selling, and identify the harm each causes to clients and to market integrity
Describe FX spot, forward, swap and option products and calculate a forward rate from given interest rates
Work through conflicts-of-interest cases (gifts, entertainment, personal account dealing) and decide the correct action with justification
Summarise how benchmark submissions can be manipulated and what controls prevent it

A written case log of 5 ethics scenarios with your decision, the principle relied on and the control that would prevent recurrence

Week 3

Outline bond market basics: issuer types, coupon structures, yield-to-maturity and the price-yield relationship
Compare exchange-traded and OTC derivatives and state the counterparty and settlement risks of each
Apply the code's confidentiality and information-handling principles to a data-sharing scenario between desks
Explain the role of a treasury function and how it interacts with corporate and institutional clients

A 1-page product matrix covering 8 instruments (money market, FX, bond, derivative) with risk features and typical users

Week 4

Calculate position, mark-to-market and simple Value-at-Risk figures for a small portfolio using given prices and volatilities
Explain interest-rate risk, credit risk, liquidity risk and operational risk and give one concrete control for each
Describe how a repo or swap is used to manage funding and duration, and trace the cash flows step by step
Identify the ethics points where risk-taking meets conduct (concealing losses, mis-marking positions)

A worked risk sheet with at least 3 calculations (mark-to-market, VaR, duration exposure) showing inputs, method and result

Week 5

Describe trade lifecycle stages from execution to settlement and name the failure point at each stage
Map the main regulatory objectives (investor protection, market integrity, financial stability) to specific rules affecting trading desks
Explain best-execution and order-handling obligations and how they apply to a client order in practice
Summarise reporting, record-keeping and transaction-reporting duties and who bears them

A trade lifecycle diagram with 6 stages, annotated with the risk and the regulatory duty at each stage

Week 6

Explain how a treasury desk manages liquidity and funding, including contingency funding and stress assumptions
Describe market-abuse surveillance: what is monitored, what alerts look like and how suspicious activity is escalated
Outline anti-money-laundering and know-your-client duties relevant to trading and treasury relationships
Explain the compliance function's role and the difference between first, second and third lines of defence

A one-page escalation flowchart from a surveillance alert through investigation to regulatory reporting, with decision points

Week 7

Revisit the code of conduct and match each principle to at least one regulatory requirement you have studied
Analyse two short misconduct cases (write them yourself) and identify the control failure, the rule breached and the remediation
Explain whistleblowing channels, personal-account dealing rules and the handling of inside information in a firm
Draft the key points of a firm's conduct policy in your own words for a new joiner

A 2-page conduct policy summary plus a case analysis table covering 2 cases with breach, control failure and fix

Week 8

Consolidate all four domains into a single revision sheet linking products, risks, rules and conduct
Complete 60 timed practice questions you write or source legally, and review every wrong answer to root cause
Re-test weak areas identified in weeks 1-7 until each is answered correctly twice
Rehearse explaining 10 key concepts aloud in under 2 minutes each to check recall under time pressure

A final revision sheet plus an error log showing at least 15 corrected misconceptions and the date each was re-tested

Week 2: Can define 20 core ethics and money-market terms from memory and correctly decide 4 of 5 conflict-of-interest scenarios

Week 4: Can complete 3 risk calculations unaided and explain the price-yield relationship and forward-rate calculation without notes

Week 6: Can draw the trade lifecycle and escalation flowchart from memory and name the regulatory duty at each stage

Week 7: Can match every code-of-conduct principle to at least one regulatory rule and analyse a misconduct case in under 15 minutes

Week 8: Scores at least 75% on a 60-question timed mock across all four domains, with no domain below 60%