do we need the Standards of Practice Handbook for level 1? or the required ethics readings included in the Schewer Notes?

Better read the standard of practice well as Scweser notes are not sufficient.Session 1- for L-1 is available as a free download from CFA institute.org So you do not need to purchase the book.If you need a copy of this book,You may check http://www.cfapubs.org/toc/cpb/2005/2005/1?cookieSet=1

I'd like to reiterate that reading the handbook is the best way to learn ethics.You can refer to study notes for practical / situational examples though (but they will probably not cover all aspects of the code).

Although I get jomni's point, I'm intrigued by the notion of learning ethics from a book.

DCFC,Hehe. I see what you're getting at...Let me reprhase that to "the best way to learn the CFA Institute Standards".I guess Ethics is not learned but practiced.

Ethics according to CFA Institute is not necessarily the same as what a bank might describe as ethics.In the Level 1 exam in Dec 2005, there was a question about someone who was a CFA charterholder, but was now retired and no longer paying annual fees to CFA Institute. What would be the correct designation for that person ? Could they put CFA after their name ? Maybe CFA (retd) ? Or something else ?I doubt that any bank would consider this to be of a critical nature, but in the context of the CFA exams, this is something you would be expected to knowIt should also be remembered that CFA Institute is not a formal regulatory body (the SEC and FSA are !) and therefore has fewer sanctions at its disposal against members who misbehave. Therefore CFA Institute needs to adopt a somewhat different approach on the ethics topicsMuch of CFA ethics is about learning the rules and procedures that were set up by CFA Institute from the handbook, and being able to reproduce this in the exam.