The CFP Board of Standards didn't really have a public policy agenda until Marilyn Mohrman-Gillis came on board in July 2008, a few months after CFP Board moved its headquarters to Washington.
Since then, Mohrman-Gillis has lobbied lawmakers and regulators to ensure that the CFP Board — as well as the Financial Planning Coalition — now has a legitimate seat at the public policy table.
"One of my original goals [was] to enhance the [CFP Board's] relationship with regulators, executives and policymakers, and building coalitions to achieve our policy objectives," she said.
She was instrumental in building the Coalition — which includes CFP Board, the FPA and NAPFA — to push a three-pronged policy agenda: fiduciary accountability, regulation of financial planners and increased oversight of advisors.
The CFP Board — and Coalition's — "principal policy" has been "fiduciary accountability, regulation of financial planners and increasing oversight of investment advisors. Those have been the core policy objectives that we have identified, and our goal has always been to increase policy outcomes that benefit the public."
To that end, Mohrman-Gillis has been a regular fixture on Capitol Hill, testifying in support of DOL's fiduciary rule. While she applauds the final rule, the fight on the Hill and in the courts to compromise it isn't over. "There's certainly the possibility and probability Congressional Review Act legislation will be introduced, and that the rule will be appealed in the court of appeals."
