Errold Moody Challenges CFP Board to Do the Right Thing
In a dispute hotly contested since 2000, Errold F. Moody has taken on the Board of Professional Review of the Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards, Inc. on behalf of a financial planning client seeking redress and legal restitution from a CFP member.
(PRWEB) June 27, 2005 -- A January 12, 2001 letter from the CFP Board to a CFP charged with a grievance, read as follows: An Inquiry Panel of the Board of Professional Review of the Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards, Inc. (CFP Board") recently considered the grievance filed against you by ___. After careful consideration of the matter, it was determined that there was no misconduct (sic) this case and, therefore, it has been dismissed as being without merit. Accordingly, the CFP Board considers this matter closed."
Nonetheless, based on subsequent forensic findings by Errold F. Moody, the exonerated" defendant signed a $300,000 settlement.
Moody, with the clients' law firm, subpoenaed notes and reports from the CFP Board regarding the initial review conducted with 800 pages of evidence. Only after extended delays were some of the subpoenaed materials produced. Moody: The absence of memos, reports, research and commentary show that the Board or panel did nothing with the information in its possession, and nothing was ever committed to writing. Validating the defendant's position would have required extensive calculations, compilation of a formal budget, a revamped net worth, phone calls to insurance and annuity companies, and more...a minimum of 50-hours work. My client relied on the CFP Board for a formal review, which was not done."
The case has become even more convoluted. A May 9, 2005 letter to the complainant from General Counsel to the CFP Board stated (in part), that the CFP Board and its subordinate Board of Professional Review still may not reopen the grievance. Defending the findings of the initial inquiry panel that allegedly reviewed over 800 pages of documentation" and found insufficient evidence to believe the CFP Boards Code (and only CFP Boards Code) had been violated." The letter further states that this is not an exoneration of the defendant under other jurisdictions, but only by the CFP Board.
The clients have been informed by the Board that their case has been reopened. There are 5000+ pages of documentation to review. Moody insists that any CFPs who review this case be properly licensed in the subjects and materials they review. Under current law, CFPs not licensed in insurance have no basis in competency to perform insurance reviews. In California, anyone offering comprehensive financial planning advice for a fee must also be licensed as a Life and Disability Insurance Analyst. To illustrate how scarce these experts are, there is only one California CFP who has ever passed that exam.
This case highlights the fact that financial planning remains an immature, not strictly regulated profession, with changing standards that often go unenforced. Certification boards and professional associations with recourse procedures for grievances against members generally staff them only with partially qualified and often biased members. Thus, theres a long way to go before "financial planners" can be viewed as professionals at the same level as attorneys or accountants, This case exemplifies this and the steps being taken to resolve it.
Mr. Moody is highly qualified in financial matters (BSCE, LLB, MBA, PhD (Real Estate); Masters of Science in Financial Planning (Estate Planning major); Life and Disability Insurance Analyst 0626414 (California- one of 33); Certified Financial Planner; Registered
Investment Adviser (California); California Real Estate Broker; California B-1 General Contractor; Series 7, 24, 27 and 63 Securities
Licenses- inactivated; Series 65 Securities License (Multi State Adviser); California Life and Disability License 0626414; Certificate as
instructor for California private post secondary educational institutions). He wrote No Nonsense Finance (McGraw Hill, 2004, ISBN 0-07-141330-8), a frank, thoroughly unabashed look at the subject of finances.
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