How does the Academy maintain standards of professionalism for actuaries?
The Academy upholds the profession's standards by continual encouragement to all members to abide by the Code of Professional Conduct. This effort encompasses the work of the Actuarial Standards Board (ASB), the Actuarial Board for Counseling and Discipline (ABCD), and the Academy's Committee on Qualifications.
The ASB establishes and improves actuarial standards of practice (ASOPs) for all practice areas. Members of the Academy and members of the American Society of Pension Professionals & Actuaries (ASPPA), Casualty Actuarial Society (CAS), Conference of Consulting Actuaries (CCA), and the Society of Actuaries (SOA), along with members of the Canadian Institute of Actuaries practicing in the United States, are bound by the standards.
Aside from developing ASOPs, the ASB also amends, expands, and eliminates these standards to reflect changes in actuarial methods and techniques.
The ASB's operations are supported by Academy staff. In addition to the Academy, the ASB’s operating expenses are contributed to by the other participating organizations: ASPPA, the CAS, CCA, and the SOA.
The ABCD's responsibilities include:
- providing guidance to practitioners;
- offering actuaries and the public an avenue for reporting material grievances regarding the professional activities of actuaries;
- investigating possible violations of the Code of Professional Conduct;
- counseling members regarding their practices; and
- recommending to member organizations, when appropriate, courses of discipline for actuaries who violate standards of conduct.
The Academy's Committee on Qualifications establishes qualification requirements for practitioners who issue “statements of actuarial opinion” in the United States.