Advisors and industry representatives have until Dec. 3 to comment on proposed changes to the Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards' rules for disciplining and barring bad actors.
Among other things, the professional standards organization has proposed adding to its list of felony convictions that would prevent someone from being able to become a certified financial planner. A permanent ban, for instance, would be applied to anyone who commits perjury, obstructs justice, tampers with a witness or steals someone's identity. The proposed changes
Many would lead to suspension of the CFP certification for at least a year. Various mitigating and aggravating factors — such as whether or not an advisor directly benefited from alleged fraud — could strengthen or lessen the sanctions' severity.
The CFP Board, which seeks to make its certification the gold standard for the advisory industry, convened a commission on sanctions and fitness in February 2021 to review its disciplinary and admission rules. The panel spent the next 22 months on that task.
Anyone wishing to comment on the commission's proposal can do so by
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"We believe the proposed revisions to the Sanction Guidelines and Fitness Standards benefit public trust when working with a CFP professional, advance the profession for those who uphold the standards and promote confidence in the ethical and competence standards of CFP certification," said CFP Board CEO Kevin Keller in a statement. "Public comment periods offer an opportunity for you to give us feedback, and we welcome your perspective."
