CFP Board Faces Criticism for Omitting Key Disclosures from Public Search Tool
The CFP Board promotes its certificants as the “most trusted” financial professionals and directs consumers to its LetsMakeAPlan.org search tool. However, a Financial Planning analysis reveals a significant gap between the Board’s records and those maintained by FINRA’s BrokerCheck database.
According to the analysis, over 9,000 CFP professionals appear to have clean records on the CFP Board’s site while holding at least one disclosure on BrokerCheck. These disclosures include formal customer complaints, regulatory discipline, and even criminal charges. BrokerCheck, maintained by FINRA, is the industry-standard resource for investors researching financial advisors’ backgrounds.
The CFP Board does not automatically display BrokerCheck information on its site, citing concerns that many disclosures contain unproven allegations. Instead, it lists only its own public sanctions and certain bankruptcy filings. Links to BrokerCheck and the Securities and Exchange Commission’s Investment Adviser Public Disclosure (IAPD) system appear on CFP profiles, but are placed well below prominent “no violations” statements-a design choice that critics say obscures critical information from consumers.
In some cases, advisors with dozens of customer complaints and millions of dollars in settlements have no sanctions listed on the CFP Board’s site. The Board’s enforcement policies exclude older incidents, low-dollar settlements, and certain regulatory or criminal matters from review, leaving many advisors’ CFP profiles unchanged despite extensive BrokerCheck records.
Critics argue that this selective disclosure undermines consumer protection and damages public trust. They contend that more transparency would better serve investors. Supporters of the Board’s current approach caution that reprinting unproven allegations could unfairly harm advisors and expose the organization to liability.
According to Financial Planning, the CFP Board maintains that linking to BrokerCheck and IAPD balances fairness to advisors with providing access to public records. However, investor advocates, securities attorneys, and some financial planners say the policy prioritizes membership retention over safeguarding the public.
Eccleston Law LLC represents investors and financial advisors nationwide in securities, employment, transition, regulatory, and disciplinary matters.
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