Starting Sept. 1, the Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards revised Procedural Rules ushering in new rules for CFPs under investigation take hold. CFP Board adopted the revised Procedural Rules in mid-May.
As of Sept. 1, the new rules "govern in all proceedings then pending or thereafter commenced," CFP Board said.
The Procedural Rules outline processes for investigating alleged misconduct and enforcing CFP Board's Code of Ethics and Standards of Conduct in a manner that it says was "designed to be fair to those whose conduct is being evaluated as well as credible to the public."
Leo Rydzewski, CFP Board's general counsel, told ThinkAdvisor in a recent email that CFP Board "periodically updates the Procedural Rules to enhance the investigation and adjudication process."
The recent revisions to the Procedural Rules, Rydzewski said, "are a critical component of CFP Board's multi-year plan to enhance and modernize its enforcement and adjudication programs."
One of the "most significant changes," Rydzewski continued, "is the expansion of the authority of the Disciplinary and Ethics Commission Counsel (DEC Counsel) to decide motions, such as how long a hearing will last. These enhancements will make CFP Board's processes more efficient and effective."
Tom Sporkin, CFP Board's managing director of Enforcement, added in the email that from an investigations standpoint, the new Procedural Rules modify CFP Board's "longstanding duty to cooperate."
The new language, Sporkin explained, "specifies that the Respondent must provide documents to CFP Board if they are under their control, as opposed to documents under their possession, custody or control.
"This change means that certificants will not be found to have failed to cooperate if they don't produce documents that they have in their possession if it is their firm, and not them, that controls the documents," Sporkin said.
CFP Board Year in Review Ethics Report, June 2023 
