Back
Adviser quits CII after CPD row
04 August 2010
A certified financial planner has fired a series of parting shots at the CII after quitting the organisation over threats to discipline him for failure to submit CPD records. The IFA, a managing director of a North West-based firm, received a letter from the trade body in June asking him to submit CPD records for the last 12 months or face punitive action. An IFA for twenty years, the adviser was told if he fails to comply he would be stripped of his membership, named and shamed in the organisation's journal and reported to the FSA. He has always insisted his CPD is fully up to date and is inspected by an external compliance team, the FSA and an in-house inspector. The MD has since decided to quit the CII rather than comply with its demands and has launched a scathing attack on the body, accusing it of muscling in on regulatory ground beyond its remit. "What are the CII? They are a trade body dressed up as a regulator," says the incensed adviser. "The FSA are the people we bow to and we do not want the CII doing regulatory work - it is not viable and it does not make sense. We have too many layers of bureaucracy." "When you see them disciplining people to cover their costs you do not want to be part of this. The end result is I do not need this, so I dropped out." His resignation means he can no longer hold the 'CertPFS' title after his name. "I don't need initials to make myself look important," he continues. "I find it disgusting you pass exams and then need to pay an organisation to see your initials. I have got my certificates and that is good enough for me" He is now undertaking new qualifications through the ifs school of finance and is scathing about the CII's exams, claiming prices have soared and books have doubled in price. "They think they have a monopoly, but there are alternatives." He commends the FSA for publishing a list of RDR adviser qualifications offered by various awarding bodies. However, a spokesperson for the CII said the body has a royal charter to ensure consumers have confidence in those advising them. "Obviously the FSA takes up a compliance role, but our role and remit clearly is laid out in our royal charter which is why we ask people to submit CPD records," she says. "We have a focus on ethics and professional standards and part of this is staying up to date on CPD." "Consumers need to know the person advising them has passed exams and are committed to a code of ethics and keeping up to date with their CPD. So we will do random checks on people to confirm they have done their CPD to ensure we are securing the confidence of the public." The issue of how professional bodies assess their members' CPD will come under the spotlight in the coming months as the FSA proposes giving them the authority to monitor advisers' professional standards post-RDR. They will be able to award a Statement of Professional Standing (SPS) to individuals who meet their criteria. The mandatory SPS will detail advisers' qualifications, CPD and standards of ethics However, manager of the FSA's professional standards policy team, Katharine Leaman, says the extension of powers awarded to accredited bodies will not include the authority to regulate firms. Published by IFAonline
