Independent Standards Panel will oversee financial planning profession standards

financial-planning-standards-council

TORONTO, August 10, 2016 – Financial Planning Standards Council (FPSC) has made changes to its governance structure, ensuring continued rigour and excellence of organizational governance and a better alignment of responsibility and accountability.

Among the key changes is the creation of an independent Standards Panel to oversee all financial planning standards. The Standards Panel is composed of individual financial planners expert in financial planning and the oversight of professional standards, and members of the public with a keen interest in financial planning standards. Previously overseen by FPSC’s Enforcement Policy and Certification Committees, the Standards Panel is responsible for developing and enforcing all standards, including:

  • The Standards of Professional Responsibility for CFP® Professionals and FPSC Level 1® Certificants in Financial Planning (to which FPSC certificants must adhere), as well as associated Guidance; and
  • The CFP Professional Competency Profile, Body of Knowledge and required educational learning outcomes for candidates on the path to certification.

“Enhancement of FPSC’s governance related to the oversight of professional standards supports the continued rigour, efficiency and relevance of FPSC’s important work,” says the Chair of the FPSC Board, Dawn Hawley. “It ensures our processes help ensure the highest standards in the financial planning profession, for the benefit of the public.”

FPSC’s Board of Directors is accountable for the organization’s success, with responsibility for the organization’s purpose and mandate, for establishing the organization’s ends and for monitoring its achievement of those ends. The four independent panels (FPSC Level 1 Examination Panel, CFP Examination Panel, Standards Panel and Conduct Review Panel) have the respective responsibilities for: ensuring that examinations and pass-fail decisions are sound, fair, appropriate and reliable; establishing and overseeing standards of the profession; and reviewing the conduct of CFP professionals or FPSC Level 1 certificants. The Board and the independent panels work on behalf of all stakeholders to ensure that FPSC’s purpose—to drive value and instill confidence in financial planning—is realized.

Members of FPSC’s Board of Directors and independent panels are:

FPSC Board of Directors (June 2016 to June 2017): Dawn Hawley, CFP® (Chair); Dan Busi, CFP® (Vice Chair); Caroline Dabu; François Durocher, CFP®; Gena Katz, CFP®; Pat Macdonald; Gerald Matier; Brett Millard, CFP®; Peter Shena; and Gilles Sinclair, Pl. Fin.

Standards Panel: Susan Howe, CFP® (Chair); Caroline Fallis, CFP®; Warren Hope, CFP®; William Jack, CFP®; David Johnson, CFP®; Ross McShane, CFP®; Zeynep Onen, B.A., LL.B.; Elyse Pinsonneault, Pl. Fin.; Lesley Poole, CFP®; and Rhonda Sherwood, CFP®.

Conduct Review Panel: Ian Rea (Chair); Debra Ammeter, LLB., CFP®; Marc André Castonguay, FMA, CLU, CIM®, CFP®; Dorothy Hagel, LL.B., CFP®; John Hope, CFP®; Philip Lawrence, LL.B., CFP®; and Shirley Raab.

FPSC Level 1 Examination Panel: Jeff Cormier, CFP® (Chair); Allan Barss, CFP®; Aurèle Courcelles, CFP®; Tyler Fehr, CFP®; Susan Howe, CFP®; Spencer Mellace, CFP®; Vickie Snow, CFP®; and Steve Tarasko, CFP®.

CFP Examination Panel: Bryan Doull, CFP® (Chair); Joe Bakish, CFP®; Dorothy Hagel, LL.B., CFP®; Tanya Herman-Vanthuyne, CFP®; Don Irwin, CFP®; Jules Lalonde, CFP®; Linda McIntyre, CFP®; and Robert Tufts, CFP®.

For more information, visit the FPSC Governance page.

About Financial Planning Standards Council

As a professional standards-setting and certification body working in the public interest, FPSC’s purpose is to drive value and instill confidence in financial planning. FPSC ensures those it certifies Certified Financial Planner® professionals and FPSC Level 1® Certificants in Financial Planning) meet appropriate standards of competence and professionalism through rigorous requirements of education, examination, experience and ethics. More information is available at www.fpsc.ca.

For more information, please contact:
Caroline Horcher
Manager, Public Affairs
Financial Planning Standards Council
chorcher@fpsc.ca
416.593.8587, ext. 232 or 1.800.305.9886