A CFP-affiliated board has recommended enhanced global oversight of investments in cryptocurrency and complex financial products.
The Financial Planning Standards Board, the standard-setting body for the global financial planning profession and the owner of the international CFP certification program, has recommended increased scrutiny and regulations for financial products that are becoming more complex. The recommendations were made to reduce fraud, scams and investing errors, the board said today.
The recommendations were made to the International Organization of Securities Commissions, (IOSCO), an association of organizations that regulate the world's securities and futures markets. The recommendations were sent to the commission’s Retail Market Conduct Task Force.
“Financial fraud and scams are certainly not new, but the rapid emergence and evolution of crypto assets and other complex digital assets means the level of risk and exposure for retail investors is becoming heightened,” said Dante De Gori, the head of stakeholder engagement at the Financial Planning Standards Board, in a statement.
“Licensing and product regulation are struggling to keep up with this fast-changing landscape, leaving financial planners unsure of their regulatory obligations and leaving retail investors to go it alone, guided by marketing campaigns, often with harmful consequences,” he added.
The recommendations include asking IOSCO to conduct research to learn more about how investors may be harmed by investments in complex products, whether the investors are following the advice of a financial advisor or are investing on their own.
If IOSCO’s member organizations continue to allow self-directed investing in complex products, self-directed investors should be required to pass a financial knowledge test to demonstrate a minimum level of financial literacy and capability, the Financial Planning Standards Board recommended.
The board added that IOSCO member organizations should prohibit the use of credit cards to purchase complex financial products.
IOSCO members should also engage technology platforms to develop cooperation agreements to suspend or ban individuals, product providers and other organizations using the platforms to defraud or scam investors, or otherwise breach securities laws, the board said.
A cooling off period should be required for self-directed retail investors who purchase a complex product, the board recommended.