FPSB Issues First Guidance Practice Note to Support Financial Planners Working with Vulnerable Clients

Financial Planning Standards Board Ltd. (FPSB), owner of the international CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER certification program outside the U.S., issued its first Guidance Practice Note to support financial planning professionals to develop policies and work with vulnerable clients in a way that fulfills their ethical and professional obligations to these clients.

In response to increased regulatory concern about the financial exploitation of vulnerable populations, and the G20 Global Partnership for Financial Inclusion’s call for lifetime financial planning to support the financial inclusion of aging populations, FPSB has provided guidance to encourage financial planning professionals working with vulnerable clients exercise an appropriate level of care, applied consistently through a documented policy, to these clients.

“All adults have the fundamental right to make their own financial decisions, and vulnerable persons have a right to be protected against financial abuse, even when the vulnerability is temporary,” said FPSB CEO Noel Maye. “This Guidance Practice Note is part of the global CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER professional community’s commitment to supporting financial inclusion and access to financial planning from competent, ethical financial planners who put their client’s interests first.”

FPSB’s Guidance Practice Note provides general and practical, principles-based guidance for financial planning professionals developing a policy for how they will work with vulnerable clients, based on best practices and the current understanding of the collective issues related to financial exploitation of vulnerable individuals.

FPSB’s Guidance Practice Note is intended to supplement, rather than supplant, existing territorial laws and regulations regarding the provision of financial advice/financial planning; discrimination against individuals regarding race, religion, sexual orientation or other factors; or the violation of client confidentiality. FPSB Guidance Notes are not intended to promulgate standards or replace governmental or regulatory obligations in a particular territory and should not be construed or relied upon as compliance, regulatory or legal advice.

Read FPSB’s June 2017 submission on senior investor vulnerability to the International Organization of Securities Commissions (IOSCO) Committee 8 on Retail Investors for a sample of its other contributions to the issue of consumer vulnerability.