CSA Group announced on Tuesday that it is a founding member of the newly formed Centre for Fiduciary Excellence — a global initiative to promote best practices within the financial industry through fiduciary certification and ratings for organizations.

CEFEX is a business initiative launched by four parties: CSA Group; SAI Global, a leading certification organization headquartered in Australia; Fiduciary360 in Pittsburgh, Penn.; and Rating Capital Partners, a European-based rating agency that pioneered the concept of fiduciary risk rating. (CEFEX also has an association with AFAQ/AFNOR International, a leading certification organization headquartered in France.)

“There is a recognized need within the financial industry for commonly accepted benchmarks to measure and report fiduciary risks,” says Robert M. Griffin, president and CEO, CSA Group. “To assist the investment community in enhancing levels of trust, we are participating in the delivery of a new business initiative to introduce a new, global fiduciary rating and certification for financial institutions.”

CEFEX service offerings include:

-CEFEX Trust Rating, which is an independent risk-based assessment of an investment management organization. Using quantitative and qualitative criteria, it measures adherence to generally accepted fiduciary practices. A firm’s trustworthiness in managing public money is represented on a 12-point scale from unsatisfactory to excellent. The trust rating addresses two key risk areas: fiduciary governance assesses the risks managed by the organization’s corporate governance policies and procedures, and fiduciary investment assesses the system risks associated with the investment management process.

-CEFEX Fiduciary Certification for Investment Managers, Advisors and Stewards, which demonstrates conformity to accepted industry best practices based on the relevant handbook of fiduciary prudent practices. The original prudent investment practices handbook was published in 2003 by the Foundation for Fiduciary Studies and the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants. Fiduciary certification is performed by a qualified CEFEX analyst, and reviewed by the CEFEX rating committee to ensure complete impartiality.

The Centre for Fiduciary Excellence is headquartered in Toronto and maintains an affiliated office in the U.S.