These terms are the agreement between you and Michael Hlinka ("we", "us") for michaelhlinka.com, where Michael Hlinka offers his CFA® and CSC® exam preparation. By creating an account you agree to them. Please read them with our Privacy Policy, our Refund Policy and, if you book a session, the Tutoring Terms.
1. Your account
- One account is for one person. Use your real name and an email address you can receive mail at.
- You confirm your email address before any course content opens.
- Keep your password to yourself. You're responsible for what happens under your account.
- A sign-in lasts up to 30 days, after which you sign in again.
- Tell us straight away at michael@michaelhlinka.com if you think someone else is using your account.
2. Free access, one level at a time
The courses are free. There is no access fee, no subscription and nothing to renew.
- To open a level of the CFA® Program (Level I, II or III) or the Canadian Securities Course, sign up, confirm your email address and answer the short questionnaire for that level. When you've finished it, everything in that level opens: the video modules, notes, quizzes and tests, class recordings, audio lessons and past exam question sets, as they appear on the site.
- One level is active at a time. Your study plan and progress tracking follow the active level.
- To open another level, answer a short questionnaire for it. The levels you opened before stay open.
- Before you sign up, you can see the full course outline of every level.
How long access lasts
Access is for the lifetime of the site, with no renewal and no fee. It includes new and updated material we add to a level later. "Lifetime" means the lifetime of this site, not a promise to run it forever. If we ever decide to close it, we'll tell members by email ahead of time, so you can finish what you're working on and save the notes and PDFs you've downloaded.
What it doesn't include
- Live classes. There are none. The class recordings are recordings of Michael's past classes.
- Tutoring with Michael, which is booked and paid for separately (see the Tutoring Terms).
- Exam registration. You register for, and pay for, the CFA exams with CFA Institute and the CSC exams with the Canadian Securities Institute.
- Official curriculum materials from CFA Institute or the Canadian Securities Institute.
The content changes
The CFA and CSC curricula change. We may update, reorder, replace or retire lessons so the course stays current. Some items are still being moved over from Michael's earlier platforms and appear as "Coming soon" until they're added. Access means access to the course as it is on the site at the time, not to any particular version of it.
3. Donations
The site runs on donations. Giving is voluntary, in whatever amount you choose, and it never changes your access: giving opens nothing, and not giving closes nothing. Donations are paid by card through Stripe's secure checkout, in Canadian dollars. Michael Hlinka is not a registered charity, so donations are not tax-deductible and we can't issue tax receipts. Refunds are covered by our Refund Policy.
4. Tutoring
One-on-one sessions with Michael are booked and paid for separately, under the Tutoring Terms.
5. Your licence to use the course
For each level you open, we give you a free, personal, non-transferable, non-exclusive licence to use that level's material for your own exam preparation for as long as your access lasts. "Personal" means you, not a study group, an employer or a class.
You may:
- watch, listen to and read the material on the site, on your own devices;
- download the PDFs and audio lessons we make available for download, and keep them for your own study;
- print notes for your own use.
You may not:
- share your account or your password with anyone;
- record, screen-capture, rip or download course videos, or try to get around the player, the watermark or the signed links;
- copy, upload, post, sell, rent or give away any course material, including in group chats, file-sharing sites, social media, study-group drives or tutoring businesses;
- use course material to train or feed an AI system, or let an AI tool scrape it;
- use bots, scripts or other automated tools to access or download the site;
- interfere with the site's security, or test it for weaknesses without our written permission;
- send false problem reports on quiz questions, or use the site to harass anyone.
6. Watermarks and protection
While a course video plays, your email and a short code move across the picture. Our player doesn't allow picture-in-picture or downloads, and the number of videos an account can play at once is limited. No player can stop screen recording, and we don't claim ours does. The watermark is how we find out where a leaked copy came from. If one turns up, we may use the watermark and our records to identify the account, contact you, and act under section 7.
7. Suspension and closing an account
We may suspend or close an account that breaks these terms, for example by sharing the account or leaking course material. Where it's reasonable, we'll tell you first and give you a chance to explain.
You can ask us to delete your account at any time. Deleting it ends your access.
Sections 5 (the "may not" list), 8, 9, 10, 12 and 13 continue to apply after an account is closed.
8. Who owns the material
The videos, notes, audio lessons, quizzes, tests, class recordings and the selection and arrangement of the course belong to Michael Hlinka, or are used with permission. Past exam questions and other material published by third parties belong to their owners. Your licence in section 5 doesn't transfer ownership of anything.
If you send us feedback or a problem report, we may use it to improve the course without owing you anything.
9. Trademarks and no affiliation
CFA® is a registered trademark of CFA Institute. CSC® is a registered trademark of the Canadian Securities Institute. This site is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by either organization.
CFA Institute sets and administers the CFA exams, and the Canadian Securities Institute sets and administers the CSC exams.
10. Study material, not a guarantee or investment advice
The course is exam preparation. We can't guarantee that you'll pass, or any particular score. The material is general education about finance and investing. It is not investment, tax, legal or career advice for your own situation. Exam dates, fees and rules are set by CFA Institute and the Canadian Securities Institute; check them on their own sites.
11. Other services we use
Payments run on Stripe, course videos are delivered by Bunny.net, and tutoring sessions take place on Zoom. Those services have their own terms. We're not responsible for an outage on their side, but we'll help you if one affects something you paid us for.
12. Availability and our liability
We work to keep the site running, but it may sometimes be down for maintenance or because of problems we can't control. We don't promise it will be uninterrupted or error-free.
To the extent the law allows, we provide the site and the material "as is", and we're not liable for indirect or consequential losses, such as lost income or a missed exam window.
Nothing in these terms takes away rights you have under the Ontario Consumer Protection Act, 2002 or any other consumer protection law that can't be waived or limited by agreement.
13. Governing law
These terms are governed by the laws of Ontario and the federal laws of Canada that apply there. Disputes go to the courts of Ontario, unless consumer law in the place you live gives you the right to go to court there.
14. Changes to these terms
We may update these terms, for example when we add a feature or the law changes. The date at the top of this page is the date of this version. If a change is important, we'll email members before it takes effect. If you don't agree with it, you can close your account before then.
15. Contact
Michael Hlinka · michael@michaelhlinka.com