CFP Board Chairman Barton Francis, however, says most of the Practice Standards are covered in the Rules of Conduct and that the revisions will lead to an overall strengthening of standards. The revisions, he said, also close a loophole that currently allows CFP certificants to evade enforcement of the Practice Standards by stating they are doing something other than "financial planning."

   "We are cleaning up things, simplifying things and raising standards," Francis said.

    Harold Evensky, also a former CFP Board chairman and chairman of Evensky & Katz Wealth Management in Coral Gables, Fla., said based on his reading of the draft document, the Practice Standards-which he described as "the meat of the guidelines for what is indeed professional appropriate practice"-essentially were removed.

   "It wasn't streamlined-it was gutted," he said. "I find it inconceivable and a potentially disasterous error."

    The changes are part of an overhaul to the organization's Code of Ethics and Professional Responsibility and Financial Planning Practice Standards that have been in the works since last year.

    The board has been under pressure during that time to enforce a fiduciary standard upon holders of the CFP mark-which is looked upon as the leading financial planning standard-while at the same time overseeing a diverse membership of investment advisors, brokers, insurance agents and others. Complicating the situation further is the fact that the CFP Board's members answer to several different regulators.

   Among the groups calling for a fiduciary standard have been the Financial Planning Association (FPA)-the nation's largest organization of planning practitioners-and the National Association of Personal Financial Advisors (NAPFA), an organization of fee-only planners.

   The FPA recently released a poll in which 86% of surveyed members supported requiring a fiduciary standard for CFP mark holders.

    FPA President Daniel Moisand said today he's concerned that giving CFP certificants the ability to "opt out" of a fiduciary standard could undermine the integrity of the CFP mark.

   "It seems to me that it creates (sets of) two standards under one designation," he said.