Fifty-one current or former financial planner professionals have been sanctioned by the Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards for conduct ranging from customer complaints to civil judgments to criminal matters , the board announced today.
The sanctions, effective immediately or on the date noted in each case, include public censures, suspensions, temporary bars, permanent bars and revocations of the right to use the CFP marks, the CFP Board said. Under the board's disciplinary code, permanent bars apply to planners who do not currently hold the CFP mark, while revocations apply to CFP holders.
CFP Board said last year that it had strengthened its enforcement program and had planned to complete background checks on all its 87,000-plus professionals to detect potential misconduct that previously had not been reported to the CFP Board. So far, it said it has completed the background checks and opened “historical Investigations” into the conduct of 1,266 professionals.
More than three-fourths of the public sanctions announced today involves misconduct that can include regulatory actions, firm terminations, customer complaints, arbitrations, and civil court litigation that involve professional conduct, criminal matters, bankruptcies, civil judgments, and tax liens, the board noted.
Among the sanctioned individuals, six were censured, 13 received administrative suspension, six were suspended, eight were temporarily barred, five were barred and the rights of 13 to use the CFP marks were revoked.