The Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards has revised its terms and conditions so that advisor arbitraton results will be made public. The Board will have the right to name the advisor if the advisor talks publicly about the case; otherwise, the cases will be anonymized.
The new revisions, announced Thursday, become effective on Sept. 12.
The new terms state: "In the event that I publicly disclose facts relating to the arbitration, CFP Board shall have the right to publicly disclose facts relating to the arbitration, including information which otherwise may be private or confidential under CFP Board's Standards and Policies. In any event, CFP Board shall make a public report about the result of the arbitration that, without disclosing my identity, states who prevailed in the arbitration, and identifies the nature of the dispute including facts relating to the arbitration."
Michael Kitces, director of wealth management and partner of the Pinnacle Advisory Group, said the new changes announced Thursday are twofold: First, CFP Board will provide an anonymized summary of any and all arbitrations that occur, with private details remaining private; and second, if after an arbitration, the CFP certificant decides to go public with the results and not keep them private, the CFP Board is released from its obligation of privacy and can further discuss the details openly.
In March, CFP Board revised its Terms and Conditions of Certification and License to state that all disputes between CFP certificants and the CFP Board had to be taken to mandatory arbitration, rather than a court of law. Those terms became effective in May.
