The CFP Board of Standards has turned over thousands of pages of documents in the ongoing court battle with a Florida couple, the CFP Board announced Tuesday.
Nearly 300,000 pages of documents have been provided “to the attorneys for Jeffrey and Kimberly Camarda as part of the Camardas’ ongoing litigation against CFP Board,” the board said in a statement. “These documents are being produced in response to the extremely broad discovery requests the Camardas issued to CFP Board. CFP Board is producing the documents under a confidentiality order requested by both parties and signed by the judge,” the statement said.
“CFP Board will continue to vigorously defend itself against the meritless allegations brought by the Camardas in their lawsuit,” the statement continued. The board declined further comment on the litigation.
The Camardas filed suit against the board after it disciplined them for misusing the term “fee only” in their marketing material. The couple own Camarda Wealth Advisory Group in Fleming Island, Fla., which is a financial advisory firm that charges fees. However, they also own an insurance company that is commission-based, which is why the board said in 2012 they could not declare themselves fee-only.
The couple argue the insurance company is separate from the advisory firm. They also say they offered several compromises to the board, but were unable to reach an agreement.
The court ruled against the board in an earlier action when the board tried to limit the amount of material to be turned over.
The disagreement has led to a nationwide debate among financial advisors about what it means to be fee-only and has resulted in the lengthy suit in Federal District Court in Washington, D.C. The Camardas recently filed a petition with the court asking that the CFP Board be compelled to turn over the discovery documents. The board said the documents were being gathered and that the couple was not being harmed by the delay.