The Financial Planners Standards Council urged the industry to “put its best foot forward” today at its introduction of the proposed Financial Planning Practice Standards. The standards further clarify what is expected of Certified Financial Planner (CFP) professionals when offering financial planning.

“The evolution of financial planning is being shaped by the CFP community. Today, we are inviting this community to get ready for the next significant step by trying on these Practice Standards for a good fit before the final version becomes mandatory for all CFP designated financial planners in spring 2005,” says Cary List, FPSC VP, Standards & Certification.

The proposed standards expand on the industry-recognized Financial Planning Process. They do not represent new ethical obligations.

“The financial planning process defines ‘what’ a financial professional should do when performing financial planning. The Practice Standards provide detailed guidance on ‘how’ they should do it so as to meet the professional commitment made by all CFP professionals to the highest standards of ethics and competence.” says List.

Several panelists were present at the introduction to answer questions and to express their support of the newly unveiled standards.

They included Steve Howards, president and CEO of Advocis, Whipple Steinkrauss, VP, Consumer’s Council of Canada, Noel Maye, CEO, Financial Planning Standards Board, Donna MacCandlish, VP, Financial Solutions Support, Imperial Service CIBC, and John Charrette, Chair, Canadian Institute of Financial Planners.

According to the FPSC, the standards will help to better inform the public about financial planning. They will also clarify for both CFP advisors and their clients their respective roles and responsibilities in the financial planning engagement.

“These new standards will mitigate possible confusion and misunderstanding between client and planner and establish consistency of service delivery,” says List.

The FPSC says the the proposed standards address the absence of financial planning regulation in most jurisdictions in Canada. Garry Duncan, Chair, FPSC Board of Directors views the new standards as a means to making financial planning a true profession, calling them “the most relevant and rigorous standards in the industry”.

The standards are the result of a comprehensive development effort begun in 2001, led by FPSC with extensive industry consultation. FPSC says it will continue consultations with those working with the Practice Standards and will receive comments until Oct. 30, 2004. Comments can be e-mailed directly to FPSC at standards@cfp-ca.org.

The PFSC is hosting the Practice Standards Web cast today. The Web cast can be viewed at http://events.onlinebroadcasting.com/fpsc/100703/index.php. The event will archived at the same address and will be accessible within 24 hours of the live event.