Financial Planning Standards Council submits recommendations to Ontario's expert committee

• Financial planning is critical to the well-being of Canadians.
• Anyone, outside of Quebec, can call themselves a financial planner.
• Lack of regulation has led to marketplace confusion.
• Canadians deserve better.

TORONTO, Sept. 22, 2015 /CNW/ - Financial Planning Standards Council is pleased to contribute to the Ontario government's review of policy alternatives related to the regulation of financial advisors and planners. The current unregulated financial planning environment leaves consumers confused and at risk. On September 21, FPSC made a formal submission to the Expert Committee struck by the Ontario government.

"Financial Planning Standards Council has recommended an elegant solution to address consumer protection and confusion, while ensuring additional costs to the system are minimized," says Cary List, President and CEO of Financial Planning Standards Council. "We are happy to work with the Expert Committee and the Ontario government to ensure that policy decisions will enhance Ontarians' trust in financial planners."

Financial Planning Standards Council's proposal addresses the lack of a single, mandated set of standards and common oversight of those holding themselves out as financial planners, or offering financial planning as a core service, which has led to confusion and a gap in consumer protection. Financial Planning Standards Council has asked the Ontario government to codify in law the professional certification structure, governance and oversight mechanisms that already exist in practice, but that are currently voluntary for the more than 9,000 CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER® professionals in Ontario, and make them a requirement for all who wish to claim financial planning as their own. 

Specifically, Financial Planning Standards Council has recommended:

1. Adoption of a single, harmonized set of standards for financial planners as already established for CFP certification;
   
   
2. Recognition and adoption of the Canadian Financial Planning Definitions, Standards & Competencies, a joint publication of Financial Planning Standards Council and the Institut québécois de planification financière.
   
   
3. Creation of title and holding out restrictions to only those who have demonstrated their competence by meeting a single set of unified qualification standards, ongoing commitment to professional ethics and continuous professional development requirements; and
   
   
4. Making all financial planners in Ontario accountable to a professional oversight body that understands financial planning and professional obligations and that represents the public interest.

Financial Planning Standards Council looks forward to further discussions with the Expert Committee as they formulate their recommendation to the Ontario government.

ATTENTION MEDIA

• Cary List is available for comment regarding regulatory issues related to the financial planning profession and the current gap in consumer protection.

RESOURCES

• To see FPSC's complete submission to the Ontario government, please visit fpsc.ca.
  
  
• During Financial Planning Week (November 15-21), an integral part of Financial Literacy Month, FPSC is pleased to welcome Ontario Minister of Finance Charles Sousa as a keynote speaker at the Celebration of the Profession Dinner on November 17. Media are invited to attend.
  
  
• A Matter of Trust: Protecting Canadians' Financial Futures provides a summary of the regulatory framework being proposed by the Financial Planning Coalition, whose mandate supports statutory requirements for financial planners in the public interest.
  
  
• FPSC and the Institut québécois de planification financière (IQPF) recently published the first-ever unified set of financial planning standards, Canadian Financial Planning Definitions, Standards & Competencies.

ABOUT FINANCIAL PLANNING STANDARDS COUNCIL

Financial Planning Standards Council, a non-profit standards-setter working in the public interest, has a 20-year history of leadership and expertise in the financial planning profession, and works diligently to ensure financial planners serving the needs of all Canadians are appropriately qualified and always put their clients' interest first. Financial Planning Standards Council develops, promotes and enforces professional standards in financial planning through CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER® certification. There are currently 17,000 CFP® professionals across Canada and 155,000 worldwide.

SOURCE Financial Planning Standards Council

For further information: or to request an interview with Cary List, please contact: Tania Freedman, Director, Public Relations & Corporate Communications Financial Planning Standards Council, P: 416.593.8587 ext. 235 | 1.800.305.9886, E: [e-mail] | www.fpsc.ca