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CFP Board News - May 2006

• Results Released for March 2006 CFP® Certification Examination
• Report on May 2006 Board of Examiners Meeting
• Board of Governors Meeting May 17-19, 2006

RESULTS RELEASED FOR MARCH 2006 CFP® CERTIFICATION EXAMINATION

Score results for the March 2006 CFP® Certification Examination were recently released to exam takers. The 10-hour, two-day exam was conducted at 50 sites nationwide. Of the 2,607 individuals who sat for the March 2006 exam, 62 percent passed.

The CFP® Certification Examination covers nearly 100 topics based on periodic studies of the job knowledge necessary to practice financial planning. Similar in concept to the bar examination for licensed attorneys and the exam for licensed CPAs, CFP Board's CFP® Certification Examination requires full integration of knowledge covered in CFP Board's financial planning topic list.

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REPORT ON MAY 2006 BOARD OF EXAMINERS MEETING

CFP Board hosted a meeting of its Board of Examiners in Denver on May 4-6, 2006. The Board of Examiners has responsibility for overseeing the development and administration of the CFP® Certification Examination and meets three times each year to review the questions that will appear on forthcoming versions of the exam. Following a two-day meeting of the Board of Examiners and volunteer content specialists, the July 2006 CFP® Certification Examination was approved and ratified.

The November 2006 CFP® Certification Examination will be the first version of the exam to use the updated Topic List developed as a result of the 2004 Job Analysis Study.

The work conducted at each Board of Examiners meeting completes a long process of exam development that involves many volunteers from around the country. CFP Board welcomes all CFP® certificants and financial planning educators with an interest in assisting with exam development process. Those interested in writing case scenarios - detailed situations that lead to between twenty to thirty multiple-choice questions - are encouraged to send a request for the case scenario guidelines to exam@CFPBoard.org. Other opportunities include participating in "Pair Review" evaluation of potential questions and "Field Tests" of exam questions. If you are interested in assisting CFP Board's Board of Examiners develop the CFP® Certification Examination, we invite you to submit an online volunteer application or contact CFP Board at exam@CFPBoard.org.

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BOARD OF GOVERNORS MEETING MAY 17-19, 2006

CFP Board's governing body, the Board of Governors (the Board), will meet May 17-19, 2006 in closed session in Washington, D.C.

In addition to updates from CFP Board's Board of Examiners, from CFP Board's Board of Professional Review, and from the Education Task Force, the Board will make decisions related to several projects that have reached late stages of development.

Among those projects is the 2006 Financial Planning Grants Program, with selection of recipients to be completed by the end of this month. CFP Board received more than a hundred applications to this grant program. The grant recipients will be announced and will receive the grant funds at CFP Board's Annual Meeting in August 2006.

The Board will also review several documents that have been developed as part of CFP Board's ongoing review of its ethical standards and professional review operations. Among these documents is one titled "Character and Fitness Standards for Candidates." The standards are designed to further recent efforts to streamline CFP Board's disciplinary procedures and to help clarify for those seeking CFP® certification what past experiences will bar or are likely to bar one from becoming a CFP® certificant. The proposed standards include one list of specific conduct that will always bar certification and a second list of specific conduct presumed to bar certification. Individuals who have engaged in conduct included on the second list will be able to petition the Board of Professional Review for review of their particular situation and attempt to demonstrate why their conduct should not bar them from becoming certified.

Proposed revisions to CFP Board's Code of Ethics and Professional Responsibility (the Code) and Financial Planning Practice Standards (the Practice Standards) will also be reviewed by the Board. These revised documents are the result of an in-depth review process that has spanned several years and included input from CFP® certificants and regulatory professionals. The review set out to improve the clarity of the Code and Practice Standards and has tackled complex issues along the way, including compensation disclosure, fiduciary standards and the security of client information. The Board is expected to decide at the May meeting whether the revised drafts are ready to be released for public comment.

The Board of Professional Review will also present the Board with an update on the development of materials to supplement the ethical standards of the Code and Practice Standards, including a set of sanctions guidelines and a set of documents that will set forth best practices, filling the gap between general ethical standards and the day-to-day practices of CFP® certificants as they provide financial planning services.

While the Board's May 2006 meeting will be held in closed session, the Board welcomes comments and suggestions. Messages for the Board may be sent by e-mail to bog@CFPBoard.org or by fax to 303-860-7388.

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