CFP Board's Code of Ethics and Professional Responsibility and Rules of Conduct Flashcards
Who are the Fitness Standards for?
- For candidates for CFP certification AND
- Former CFP professionals seeking reinstatement whose certification has not been suspended
What are the three categories of adverse conduct relevant to fitness?
- Conduct that is unacceptable
- Conduct that is presumed to be unacceptable
- Other conduct that may reflect adversely upon the individual’s integrity or fitness, the profession, or the CFP marks
Conduct that is deemed unacceptable
- Permanently barred from becoming certified
- Will ALWAYS bar someone from becoming certified
- Felonly conviction for theft, embezzelment, or other finanical-related crimes
- Felony conviction for tax fraud or other tax-related crimes
- Revocation of a finanical professional license (registered rep, broker/dealer, accountant, investment adviser, financial planner, insurance, etc.)
- Unless it’s admin in nature (such as not paying required fees for renewing)
- Felonly conviction for any degree of murder or rape
- Felony conviction for any other VIOLENT crime WITHIN last 5 years
Conduct presumed to be unacceptable
- Will bar an individual UNLESS person petitions the DEC for a fitness determination in accordance with CFP Board’s Procedural Rules AND the DEC grants the petition or permits the individual to reapply for certification at a later date
- Individual may NOT petition for fitness determination UNTIL AFTER the person has successfully completed the educaiton, exam, and experience requirements for certification.
- Following conduct is presumed to be unacceptable
- Two or more personal bankruptcies
- Revocation or suspension of a NON-FINANCIAL professional license (attorney, real estaet, etc)
- Unless it is administrative in nature by not paying required fees
- Suspension of FINANCIAL profesional license (unless admin fees)
- Felony conviction for NON VIOLENT crimes WITHIN past five years
- Felony conviction for VIOLENT crimes other than murder or rape that occurrerd MORE than five years ago
Other conduct that may reflect adversely upon the individual’s integrity or fitness, the profession, or the CFP certification marks
- Will bar an individual UNLESS person petitions the DEC for a fitness determination in accordance with CFP Board’s Procedural Rules AND the DEC grants the petition or permits the individual to reapply for certification at a later date
- Individual may NOT petition for fitness determination UNTIL AFTER the person has successfully completed the educaiton, exam, and experience requirements for certification.
- Following conduct is under this:
- Customer complaints
- Abritrations and other civil proceedings
- Felony convictions for NON VIOLENT crimes that occurred MORE than five years ago
- Misdemeanor convictions
- Employer investigations and terminations
What are the Code of Ethics and Standards of Conduct
- It is the commitment that all CFP professionals make to high standards of competency and ethics
- Ethics Code and Standards:
- Benefits and protects the public
- Provides standards for delivering financial planning
- Advances the financial planning professional as a distinct profession and valuable
- Violations of The Code and Standards may subject a CFP professional to discipline
Seven Principles of Code of Ethics
- A CFP professional must:
- Act with honesty, integrity, competence, and diligence (HICD)
- Act in the client’s best interest
- Excerise due care
- Avoid or disclosre and manage conflicts of interest
- Maintain the confidentiality and protect privacy of client info
- Act in a manner that reflects positively on the financial planning profession and CFP certification
Standard of Conduct
Duties owed to clients
Fudiciary Duty
- Fiduciary duty must be present at ALL TIMES when:
- Providing Financial Advice to a Client
- Following duties must be fulfilled:
- Duty of loyalty
- place interests of client above interest of CFP pro and CFP pro’s firm
- avoid conflict of interest, or fully disclose them to client, obtain the client’s informed consent, and properly manage the conflict
- act without regard to the financial or other interest of the CFP pro, the CFP pro’s firm, or any other individual/entity other than the client.. even when CFP is acting under a conflict of interst.. must continue to act in best interest of client
- Duty of care
- Must act with care, skill, prudence, and diligence that a prudent pro would exercise in light of a client’s goals, risk tolerance, objectives, and financial/personal circumstances
- Duty to follow client instructions
- Must comply with all objectives, policies, restrictions, and other terms of the Engagement and all reasonsable and lawful directions of the client
- Duty of loyalty
Standard of Conduct
Duties owed to clients
Integrity
- Integrity demands honesty and candor, which may not be subordinated to personal gain or advantage.
- Allowance may be made for INNOCENT ERROR or LEGITIMATE differences of opinion, but integry CANNOT coexist with deceit
- CFP pro may not, directly, or indirectly
- Employ anything to defraud
- Make any untrue statement of a material fact or omit to state a material fact necessary in order to maek the statements made, not misleading
- Engage in any act, practice, or course of buiness which operates or would operate as a fraud or deceit upon any person
Standard of Conduct
Duties owed to clients
Competence
- Must provide services with relevant knowledge and skill to apply that knowledge
- If CFP doesn’t have expertise is something, must:
- Gain competence
- obtain assistance of competent professional
- limit/terminate the engagement
- and/or refer client to a competent pro
Standard of Conduct
Duties owed to clients
Diligence
- Must provide professional services, including responding to reasonable client inquiries, in a timely and thorough manner
Standard of Conduct
Duties owed to clients
Disclose and Manage Conflicts of Interest
- Disclose conflicts
- When providing financial advice:
- CFP must make full disclosure of all materical conflicts of interest with the client that could affect the professional relationship.
- Client must understand and give informed consent or reject it.
- CFP must make full disclosure of all materical conflicts of interest with the client that could affect the professional relationship.
- Must make disclosures AND obtain informed consent BEFORE providing any financial advice
- CFP board will look to see if a reaonsable client was given sufficient facts about material conflicts of interest
- Will favor client in the interpretation aspect
- ORAL disclosure is REQUIRED, although WRITTEN is not required for financial advice
- When providing financial advice:
- Manage conflicts
- Must adopt and follow business practices reasonably designed to prevent materical conflicts of interest from compromising the CFP pro’s ability to act in client’s best interest
Standard of Conduct
Duties owed to clients
Sound and Objective Professional Judgement
- CFP pro must exercise professional judgement on behalf of the client that is not subordinated to the interest of the CFP pro or others
- CFP may not solicit or accept any gift, gratuity, entertainment, non-cash compensation, or other consideration that reasonably could be expected to compromise the CFP professional’s objectivity
Standard of Conduct
Duties owed to clients
Professionalism
- CFP must treat clients, prospective clients, fellow professoinals, and others with dignity, respect, and courtesy
Standard of Conduct
Duties owed to clients
Comply with the Law
- CFP must comply with laws, rules, and regulations governing Professional services
- CFP may NOT intentionally or recklessly particpate or assist in another person’s violation of these Standards or laws, rules, or regulations governing Professional Services