Industry officials took to LinkedIn and Twitter to voice their views on the CFP Board's recently released comparison of the board's new fiduciary Code of Ethics and Standards of Conduct vs. the Securities and Exchange Commission's Regulation Best Interest.
"Striking," popular blogger and planner Michael Kitces said Saturday on both social media platforms. "@CFPBoard has put out a new guide explicitly detailing the differences between Reg BI and the new fiduciary standard for CFP professionals."
Kitces then pondered whether CFP Board released the guide as a way "to ramp up positioning the CFP marks as a differentiator in advisor standards?"
Striking. The @CFPBoard has put out a new guide explicitly detailing the differences between Reg BI and the new fiduciary standard for CFP professionals.
CFP Board looking to ramp up positioning the CFP marks as a differentiator in advisor standards? https://t.co/8btNq4NfQV pic.twitter.com/2We7qn9tw9
— MichaelKitces (@MichaelKitces) July 18, 2020
The CFP Board notes in the comparison that its standards require "prudence, while the SEC says that prudence is covered by other terms. Any difference in the duties of care will be revealed when the SEC interprets Reg BI."
The comparison goes on to say that "both the Code and Standards and Reg BI impose a duty of loyalty that seeks to limit the effect a conflict of interest may have on a recommendation."
CFP Board "explicitly requires the client's interest to come first. The SEC does not. CFP Board requires the Financial Advice to be 'without regard' to the interests of anyone but the client's. The SEC does not use similar language."