Updated Standards of Professional Conduct
Effective Date July 1, 2008; Enforcement Date January 1, 2009

New: Recorded Webinar:
Applying the Fiduciary
Standard to a Financial
Planning Practice

On May 31, 2007, the Board of Directors of Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards, Inc. (CFP Board) announced the adoption of an updated Standards of Professional Conduct, which sets forth the ethical standards for CFP® professionals. CFP® professionals found in violation of CFP Board’s ethical standards may be subject to public discipline, up to a permanent revocation of the right to use the CFP® marks.

The updated Standards have an effective date of July 1, 2008 and an enforcement date of January 1, 2009. CFP® certificants are expected to abide by the revised Standards beginning on the effective date of July 1, 2008. Conduct by a CFP® certificant that takes place prior to the January 1, 2009 enforcement date will be reviewed under CFP Board’s previous Standards of Professional Conduct. Compliance with the revised Standards will satisfy the requirements of the previous Standards.

The updated Standards of Professional Conduct and related materials are available below for download and review. Comments and questions about the updated Standards may be sent to standards@CFPBoard.org.

• Updated Standards of Professional Conduct and Related Documents
• Multimedia Presentations: CFP Board's Standards Applied to Specific Situations and Business Models
• Webinar Events on Updated Standards of Professional Conduct
• Sample Disclosure Forms
• Enforcement of the Standards of Professional Conduct
• Frequently Asked Questions

Updated Standards of Professional Conduct and Related Documents:

Updated Standards of Professional Conduct, Effective Date: July 1, 2008 Enforcement Date: January 1, 2009 (430 KB PDF file)

Previous Code and Standards (446 KB PDF file)

Side-by-Side Comparison of Terminology (50 KB PDF file)

Side-by-Side Comparison of Principles (46 KB PDF file)

Side-by-Side Comparison of Rules (84 KB PDF file)

Side-by-Side Comparison of Financial Planning Practice Standards and Rules (47 KB PDF file)

Multimedia Presentations: CFP Board's Standards Applied to Specific Situations and Business Models

In 2009, CFP Board assembled a Business Model Working Group to discuss the application of CFP Board’s Standards to specific situations and business models. This Working Group, comprised of representatives of nearly two dozen financial service firms that employ or contract with CFP® certificants, identified specific scenarios where additional guidance from CFP Board would be helpful. Following the Working Group’s discussions, CFP Board has developed the following multimedia presentations to assist CFP® certificants in understanding and complying with CFP Board’s Standards.

Scenario SS 1: Understanding the Definition of Financial Planning and Material Elements of Financial Planning: Advice in a Single Subject Area

Sometimes CFP® certificants provide service to clients in a single subject area. Scenario SS1 describes an estate planning engagement that does not involve financial planning or material elements of financial planning.

View the Scenario SS1 presentation >

Scenario SS 3: Understanding the Definition of Financial Planning and Material Elements of Financial Planning: Advice in a Single Subject Area

Sometimes CFP® certificants provide service as a resource to help clients in a single subject area. Scenario SS3 describes an employee benefits situation that does not involve financial planning or material elements of financial planning.

View the Scenario SS3 presentation >

Scenario RIA 2: Understanding CFP Board's Standards of Professional Conduct: RIA Disclosure

Many CFP® certificants provide financial planning as part of a team. Scenario RIA 2 describes one such situation that involves a registered investment advisory firm of a large broker-dealer. The broker-dealer’s fiduciary duty has defined timeframes but the CFP® professional's fiduciary duty under CFP Board’s Standards of Professional Conduct is ongoing.

View the Scenario RIA2 presentation >

Scenario TOD 1: Understanding CFP Board's Standards of Professional Conduct: Timing of Disclosures

Many CFP® certificants have questions about the disclosure requirements contained in CFP Board’s Standards of Professional Conduct. Scenario TOD 1 looks at what CFP® professionals should disclose to clients, how to make the disclosures and when.

View the Scenario TOD1 presentation >

Scenario TE 1: Understanding CFP Board's Standards of Professional Conduct: Working in a Team Environment

Many CFP® certificants provide services using a team approach. The degree to which CFP® professionals interact with clients varies. Scenario TE1 illustrates a situation where a CFP® certificant provides financial planning support to a non-certificant as part of a team.

View the Scenario TE1 presentation >

Webinar Events on Updated Standards of Professional Conduct

On November 9, 2011, CFP Board held a webinar addressing key concepts related to applying the fiduciary standard to the practice of financial planning, including:

• When does the fiduciary standard of care apply?
• When are you holding yourself out as a financial planner?
• How can you define your scope of engagement to best protect yourself?
• If a CFP® professional presents a financial plan to a client and the client elects not to follow the recommendations in the plan, does the CFP® professional owe the client a fiduciary duty of care?
• How is financial planning different from brokerage services? Investment advice? Insurance?
• How do the Financial Planning Practice Standards relate to the six step financial planning process?
• What kinds of conduct in a financial planning relationship have led to violations of CFP Board's Rules of Conduct and/or non-compliance with the Practice Standards?

The webinar was presented by members of CFP Board's Disciplinary and Ethics Commission and hosted by Michael Shaw, CFP Board's Managing Director of Professional Standards & Legal.

View CFP Board Fiduciary Standards Webinar video on YouTube >

On May 26, 2011, CFP Board held a webinar addressing trends in the types of conduct that have come under review by CFP Board's Disciplinary and Ethics Commission, based on an analysis of CFP Board's Anonymous Case Histories from 2008 to 2010, including the sanctions imposed for specific types of conduct. Download the presentation slides (PDF file) and view the recorded Webinar.

On March 31, 2011, CFP Board held a webinar addressing key concepts related to CFP Board’s enforcement of the Standards of Professional Conduct, including CFP Board’s definitions of “financial planning” and “fiduciary,” examined how those definitions relate to the written agreement and disclosure requirements of the Standards, and addressed questions from the audience. Download the presentation slides (PDF file) and view the recorded Webinar.

On July 1, 2008, CFP Board held a webinar for compliance professionals on implementing the revised Standards in a firm environment. A copy of the presentation materials and a transcript of the question and answer session are available for download.

CFP Board’s Business Update Webinar on July 9, 2008 featured a presentation from Marilyn Capelli Dimitroff, CFP® on the revised Standards, as well as responses to audience questions about the revised Standards. Download documents with the results of two polling questions related to CFP Board's revised Standards and answers to questions asked by webinar participants.

On November 5, 2008, CFP Board held a webinar focused on strategies CFP® certificants and firm compliance officers have used to comply with CFP Board’s Standards of Professional Conduct and included an in-depth case study of a CFP® certificant providing services in a broker-dealer environment within a bank. Download the Presentation Slides (PDF file).

On December 9, 2009, CFP Board held a webinar to answer questions CFP® certificants submitted about the Standards of Professional Conduct to better understand when the fiduciary and baseline duties of care apply, including:

• What does it mean to place the client’s interest ahead of the CFP® professional’s?
• Does the fiduciary standard of care apply when a CFP® professional advises a client solely on the portfolio distribution of the client’s 401(k) plan?
• Does the fiduciary standard apply when a CFP® professional recommends a life insurance policy to a client who previously purchased only a homeowner’s policy?
• Does CFP Board’s baseline standard of care, which requires placing the client’s interest ahead of the CFP® professional’s at all times, apply when the professional prepares a financial plan for the client?
• Does the fiduciary standard of care apply when the CFP® professional and client have a financial planning relationship, even if there is no written agreement between the two?

During this webinar, these questions were answered by members of CFP Board’s Ethics Task Force: Nancy Johnson Jones, CFP®, AIFA®, CSCP™, Founder, Strategic Compliance Concepts, and Glenn Parker, CFP®, Founder, Wychick Investment Advisors, Inc. A recording of the webinar is available on YouTube. Download answers to questions asked by Webinar participants.

Sample Disclosure Forms:

The use of the following forms is intended to help CFP® certificants meet their obligations under CFP Board’s updated Standards of Professional Conduct. CFP Board believes that using the forms appropriately will supply clients with:

• Information about a CFP® certificant;
• The services being provided;
• Any conflict of interest a CFP® certificant may have; and
• The costs to the client associated with the services being provided, which includes compensation arrangements, financial or investment product fees, or other costs related generally to transactions or advice by a CFP® certificant.

Sample Disclosure Forms (79 KB PDF file)

Form OPS (Disclosure Form for Other Professional Services) (39 KB Word document)

Form FPD (Disclosure Form for Financial Planning Services) (43 KB PDF file)

Form FPDA (Written Agreement and Disclosure Form for Financial Planning Services) (44 KB PDF file)

Enforcement of the Standards of Professional Conduct

CFP Board’s Standards are actively enforced through an investigative and disciplinary process described in the Disciplinary Rules and Procedures. Cases involving conduct that took place on or after January 1, 2009 will be reviewed under the updated Standards of Professional Conduct, which took effect July 1, 2008. Cases involving conduct that took place prior to January 1, 2009 will be reviewed under the previous Standards of Professional Conduct.

Enforcement of the ethical standards for CFP® certificants is one of the key elements that distinguishes the CFP® certification from other financial credentials, and CFP Board is committed to maintaining a disciplinary process that is fair to the certificants whose conduct comes under scrutiny and one that is credible to the public. Download a diagram of CFP Board’s disciplinary process >

Frequently Asked Questions:

CFP Board has assembled responses to frequently asked questions about the updated Standards of Professional Conduct:

Frequently Asked Questions (Updated December 2010)
(314 KB PDF file)

Additional questions about the revised Standards, including questions about the application of the Standards to specific situations, may be sent to standards@CFPBoard.org.