The Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards is appointing a task force to revamp the information on enforcement actions taken against advisors, the board announced Tuesday following revelations that much negative information is not available on its website.
The task force is expected to make its first recommendations to the board at its November meeting. All recommendations will be made public and reasons for following or not following them will be given, said Susan John, chair of the CFP Board Board of Directors, and Kevin Keller, CEO of the CFP Board at a press conference held Tuesday.
The press conference was held to answer research conducted by The Wall Street Journal that showed advisors with criminal allegations, client complaints and bankruptcies on their records are listed on the Board’s LetsMakeAPlan webpage without noting the negative actions taken against them. The directory on the LetsMakeAPlan site is designed to help the public find a CFP.
Keller said the board will no longer rely strictly on advisors self-reporting actions that have been taken against them by law enforcement and other regulatory agencies. Instead, the CFP Board will work with the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority and the Securitas and Exchange Commission to better notify the public about actions taken against advisors who hold the CFP mark.
The effort will require more resources in people and/or software, John said.
Denise Voigt Crawford, the former Texas Securities Administrator and a member of the CFP Board’s Board of Directors, has been appointed to head the new task force, which has been asked to expedite its work. The task force’s work will be combined with efforts already underway to upgrade the board’s enforcement efforts to assure the public it can have confidence working with a CFP professional, Keller said.
The board has spent some $12 million a year since 2011 for a public relations campaign promoting the CFP designation as a mark of competence and ethical standards.
“We will be looking at how we can improve” our enforcement efforts, said Keller, acknowledging that The Wall Street Journal article “pointed out where we can do a better job.”
Keller and John said the new efforts would be directed at CFP designees when they renew their certifications. Some 3,500 certifications are renewed monthly.
The CFP Board touts its designation as a high standard for advisors to attain and for the public to use in its selection of planners. It recently revamped its Code of Ethics and Standards of Conduct. The new rules go into effect Oct. 1.